TFTD: Elemental Saga, by Larry Mann
by Sparrowhawk1
Summary: Please read the Foreword. Important information is contained therein.
1. Foreword

Foreword:  
  
I AM NOT THE AUTHOR. This story is copyright 1996-1997 Larry Mann.   
  
This is one of the best pieces of fan fiction out there (in my opinion). However, it seems to have disappeared off the face of the 'net. As a service to all X-Com fans (and people who enjoy good fanfics), I decided to repost it here.  
  
Update: Mr. Mann recently e-mailed me, giving me permission to post the story here.   
  
In addition, he has also kindly provided a couple of links to his current work:  
  
http://www.jurai.net/~kallisti/rtype/artwork   
  
http://www.eyrie-productions.com  
  
- 5parrowhawk  
  
13th June 2003 


	2. Prologue

Prologue 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    "I will tell you the story of the Elemental, a truly great hero in
    our world's wars against the Starspawn.
    "Yes, let no one tell you differently: the Starspawn are as
    real as you or I. Indeed, my people are living proof of that. They are
    ancient, far more ancient than any race to walk the surface of our
    planet, and their power is on a level which we can only begin to understand.
    "There is much legend surrounding the Starspawn, I know. The
    tales of the wars are so much legends nowadays that truth is far too
    often unknowable. And before I go on I must separate the facts from the
    fictions, for the truths must be preserved if our species is to continue
    surviving.
    "The Starspawn first became known to us at the dawn of the Third
    Millennium, as their scouts and harvest vessels began returning in
    earnest to reap the bounty of Earth. Plants, animals, humans... all were
    taken for experiments, for resources, and for food. We were little more
    than animals to them, animals and guinea pigs for their genetic
    experiments. But we were not docile animals, and our fighting instincts
    drove us into resistance against them. The greatest thinkers, the
    strongest fighters, and the mightiest tool-builders from every nation on
    Earth; all banded together to form the secret Extraterrestrial Combat
    Force, X-Com.
    "From the beginning our resistance was horribly outnumbered and
    outgunned, and some thought X-Com's efforts to be insanely pointless.
    But our aircraft were able to shoot down the enemy vessels. And our simple
    weapons were effective against the creatures we found aboard those
    ships. We killed them. We captured their dead vessels. We knew then that
    they were not undefeatable.
    "But simply killing them was no answer, for though we knew our
    weapons were effective for that moment, that could not last forever. We
    had to learn who and what these aliens were, why they were here, and most
    importantly, how their machinations worked, in order that we might fight
    them on equal terms. Through cunning and untold sacrifice, functional
    vessels were captured, live Starspawn detained and interrogated. We
    stole their technology and made it our own. We learned of the many
    different types of Starspawn and their purposes in the aliens' vast
    empire. And finally we even learned how to unlock the power of our own
    minds to use as a psychic weapon against the strongest of the Starspawn.
    It was then that we received our first glimpse of the power of the alien
    hordes, and in some ways it is almost better that much of the world never
    knew of it, for thousands would surely have gone mad.
    "They attacked everywhere, spreading terror and hysteria wherever
    they went. X-Com fought them. They killed. We killed. We drove them
    back, held them at bay long enough for our people to find the source of
    the Starspawn's power in our star system: Cydonia Base on Mars. Our
    bravest and strongest X-Com warriors fought their way to Mars, to
    Cydonia, to the alien base there. Against incredible odds they fought,
    killed, and died. And they won. The Commander himself fired the fatal
    shots which destroyed the Cydonian Brain.
    "Their war machine unexpectedly and fatally disrupted, the
    Starspawn fled. Victory was ours, for the time being.
    "You ask why none of the secrets we learned in the First Alien
    War ever became known? That, my child, is exemplary of our
    overconfidence. Overconfidence can be a strength, but it can also be a weakness. Those who controlled the operation from on high -- the
    politicians, the bureaucrats, the executives -- were certain that victory
    was permanent, and so X-Com faded away almost as quickly as it had
    formed, dismantled by bureaucracy into little more than memory. Most of
    those involved with the project returned to their normal civilian and
    military lives, but some of the soldiers and equipment of the
    organization were never accounted for, vanishing into the unknown along
    with their organization. No one knew where they had gone, or why.
    "Another thing we did not know, and could not have known, was
    that the forces of the Starspawn had not gone completely. Deep in the
    oceans of Earth, a long-dormant colonization vessel rested on the ocean
    floor. It had come here millions of years ago to take over this world,
    but a massive solar flare destroyed its navigational control systems and
    it crashed instead, sinking deep into the dark waters, where it remained
    for millennia. The aliens we had been fighting were a Starspawn
    taskforce sent to resurrect this vessel. We stopped them.
    "But in the last few microseconds before its death, the Cydonian
    Brain emitted one final shrill scream in the form of a tachyon beam,
    which shot through the void and plunged into Earth's oceans, striking a
    receptor on the colony ship. The Brain had intended to send this message
    after the planet was secured, but its plans had been destroyed. Now it
    could only shriek out to its brethren to awaken and hope, as it died,
    that they would succeed where it had failed.
    "Deep in the ocean, these ancient Starspawn began awakening.
    Over the following decades they planned their strategy, drawing on
    the information the Cydonian Brain had sent in its death throes. Then
    slowly, quietly, they began to fan out across the globe, constructing
    colonies, installing Synomium devices, laying the groundwork for what would
    become the Molecular Control Net, preparing to mount their attack against
    humankind and take over the world.
    "It was in these decades that the psychics of our world began to
    sense that something was not right. And it was into these troubled times
    that I was born......"
    * * *
    X - C O M S A G A I I
    TALES FROM THE DEEP
    by
    Larry Mann
    "X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"
    Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software
    "X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown
    "X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep"
    Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann
    

* * *

END


	3. Aspect 1: Voices

Voices 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    "The most merciful thing in the world ... is the inability of the
    human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid
    island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and
    it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each
    straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little;
    but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will
    open up such terrifying vistas of reality ... that we shall
    either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light
    into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
    -- H. P. Lovecraft
    * * * * *
    X - C O M S A G A I I
    T A L E S F R O M T H E D E E P
    by Larry Mann
    "X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From the Deep"
    Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software
    "X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown
    "X-Com Saga II: Tales From the Deep"
    Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann
    = = =
    ASPECT ONE:: Voices
    - - -
    A.D. 2040
    TRANSPACIFIC LINER _KUSANAGI MARU_
    ENROUTE TO HAWAII
    The splash of the mist and the wind helped to accentuate
    the already cold sting of the nighttime sea air, but Steffie's thoughts
    were so far away she didn't really notice. Her eyes were on the
    cloudless, starry sky. (Miles from civilization, the only light came from
    the running lights on the cruise ship itself.) Her mind was on the
    voices, voices which had come and gone like the ebb and flow of the
    tide for as long as she could remember, and which had called out to her
    again tonight. Most of those who knew her simply chalked the voices up
    merely to vivid dreams, since they always seemed to come at some ungodly
    hour of the night, as they had this evening.
    Steffie didn't know what to think. It wasn't just any dream that
    woke her up and made her want to be close to the sea. Or failing that,
    to look out at the stars. Almost as if someone, or something, were
    calling out to her. Her eyes traveled downward from the sparkle of the
    sky, to the soft green glow of the phosphorescent algae beds surrounding
    the ship.
    She found it easy to believe the sea was calling out to her, especially
    when she saw something like this. The sea was full of life, as it had been
    since long before there were humans. For as long as she could remember
    the sea had been her friend, filled with many mysteries and treasures.
    Some of her more landborne friends had accused her of being a fish
    because of her attachment to the ocean. She'd laughed at their remarks,
    but she couldn't deny the truth in the statement either. There were
    times when her devotion to the ocean did become a bit consuming. She had
    never shaken the feeling that the sea held some very important secret,
    and it expected her to learn that secret as soon as possible. Why else
    would it call out to her--
    Dreamer.
    Steffie jumped perceptibly. It was one of the voices. She'd
    heard it. But she was awake!
    You are the Dreamer. You know of the Elemental. You are the
    key. Another one.
    Steffie looked around, suddenly a turmoil of excitement and
    apprehension. They were speaking to her! They were really speaking to
    her!! And yet, something seemed... wrong, a corner of her mind becoming
    more cautious. Reflexively she reached toward her chest, to clutch her
    amulet, but it was not there. Damn, she had left it in her cabin. More
    and more she felt confusion, and a little fear. What was going on?
    Do not be afraid. You seek answers. We seek answers.
    The algae seemed to be moving now. No... something *in* the
    algae was moving: an indefinite clump of glowing green, oblong in shape,
    had differentiated itself and had moved into a clearer, darker piece of
    ocean. It was coming closer. Steffie thought she could make out a
    yellow body below the surface of the water, and the creature looked
    up at her with glowing green eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she
    thought she saw two more of the creatures to the port side of the ship,
    also coming closer.
    Who are you? she thought, not knowing whether to be excited or
    terrified.
    Do not be afraid. T'Leth seeks the Elemental. Help us, and your
    questions will be answered.
    What is the Elemental? What is T'Leth? What do you want from
    me?? These were not the same voices in her dreams. They had only
    pretended to be. She sensed definite danger now. The word "T'Leth" had
    struck a black chord in the deepest recesses of her mind. She had to
    get out of here. She needed her amulet.
    At that moment, the surface of the ocean erupted in a huge spray
    illuminated by the glow of the algae and the eyes of the strange
    monsters. The two monsters to the portside rose as one, and then Steffie
    saw that it was not two monsters, but one single yellow-hulled flying
    submarine. A flying sub unlike any she had ever seen in her life. The
    sub hovered in the air for a moment, and then a volley of green beams
    spat from the front of the vessel. Explosions rocked the upper decks of
    the cruise ship, momentarily joined by the howl of alarm klaxons and the
    screams of people. Steffie watched, horrified, as the submarine shot
    forward until it was directly above the ship. It paused there for a
    moment, then rocketed away, plowing back into the ocean with a terrific
    splash and disappearing entirely. Then the sound of gunfire and more
    screams could be heard, and on one of the upper decks, silhouetted by
    flames, Steffie saw... something... moving.
    Then the wind picked up and she found herself bathed in a green
    light. She whirled and saw another flying sub, this one much smaller
    (not much more than 10 meters across), touching down on the deck a few
    meters away from her. A hatch on one side snapped open with a loud
    mechanical hiss, and something stepped out. It was smaller than she,
    with blue-green skin, a bulbous head, and spindly body, and it was
    carrying some sort of gun. Then it turned and faced her, and its
    gleaming red eyes bored into her.
    You will come with us, it said in her mind.
    The sight of the creature triggered something in her deepest
    subconscious which she did not really understand, but didn't really need
    to, for one word came into her mind: ENEMY.
    "No!!" she cried, and turned to run away, but before she had
    taken more than two steps a shot rang out. There was a bright flash and
    suddenly she felt extremely woozy. Her legs gave out and she fell to the
    deck, turned so that she was facing the red-eyed creature.
    T'Leth needs your strength, the thing intoned as it approached her.
    Come. *Now*.
    GET AWAY FROM ME!! she screamed mentally, trying with all her
    might to will her unresponsive limbs to move. She couldn't let them take
    her. She knew that. The creature abruptly staggered and nearly fell,
    clutching at its head with its two-digit flippers, but then regained its
    composure, and its eyes bored into her as its small mouth twisted into
    what looked like a snarl.
    And then it was inside her head.
    She watched herself get up, shakily, and stumble toward the
    small sub. She couldn't stop herself. Panic surged and she kept
    fighting to break free, but the creature kept its angry stare fixed on
    her, kept her conscious will locked in a terrible vise grip. It followed
    her as she stepped inside the submarine and headed towards its stern,
    towards a gray boxlike chamber just large enough to hold a human. She
    watched herself press some undecipherable keys on the machine and its
    lid hissed open.
    Then she started to step inside, and the part of her mind which
    had been fighting for control all this time realized what this was,
    realized escape was impossible, and saw one last long-shot chance. In
    one last ditch effort, even as she was climbing into the cryocapsule, she
    gathered all her energy together one last time and screamed.
    HELP!!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!
    Then something struck her on the back of her neck, the world
    exploded into dancing stars, and then nothing.
    * * *
    Several thousand miles away, in an underground base whose
    existence was known only by a select few people, a power cell sparked and
    burned out, setting off an alarm. The two techs on duty scrambled to
    rectify the problem, but found they were unable to act: one of the
    chambers had begun its reanimation sequence, and it could not be halted
    without killing the occupant. A minute later a gray-haired woman in a
    military uniform stormed into the alcove. Words were exchanged, some of
    them harsh, and she departed again.
    A few more minutes passed, and the room containing the cryochambers
    was entered by the gray-haired Commander, flanked by two Able Seamen armed
    with gauss pistols. The cryo which was currently the cause of their
    problems, number 15, was already completing the final stages of its
    cycle, and in the next moment the upper seal broke, the water vapor in
    the air condensing into clouds instantly. One of the Seamen started to
    raise her pistol but the Commander waved her off, then turned her
    attention back to the chamber. The lid started to raise upward slowly
    but then was forcibly pushed upward by a muscled arm. The other Seaman
    nearly raised *his* pistol but checked himself at a sidelong glare from
    the Commander.
    The Commander could understand their worries, but carefully
    concealed any anxiety she might have felt as the form of a muscular
    woman with short blond hair lifted herself up into a sitting position,
    with absolutely no signs of post-cryogenic shock which the few other
    revived troopers had shown. Her icy blue eyes locked with the
    Commander's, and she started to speak but stopped short as her raw
    throat screamed in protest. Instead the Commander heard the words
    ringing in her head, clear as day:
    Someone called me.
    END ONE
    

* * *

END


	4. Aspect 2: Faces

Faces 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT TWO:: Faces
    - - -
    X-COM SUBTERRANEAN BASE "ICEHOUSE"
    SOMEWHERE IN GREENLAND
    Deciding that her gear was finally in order, Lyudmila Mannski
    grasped the zippers on her nylon footlocker bag and zipped it shut. Some
    of her old gear had of course been replaced either due to aging or because
    of new technology, but overall they had done a good job of keeping her
    personal effects in order while she was in stasis. The thought triggered a
    brief flash of anger, since she had not wanted to be put in stasis in the first
    place. She would have protested if she'd been coherent enough at the time.
    But, nothing for it now. It was 40 years ago, and the people who'd made
    those decisions were likely dead, or not worth killing.
    She picked up a small pin resting on the bench beside her: her new
    rank insignia. It consisted of a white anchor behind which a gold chain
    stretched diagonally. Under X-Com's new naval ranking system that meant
    she was a Lieutenant. It was, according to Commander Deborah Hand,
    identical to her former rank of Captain, but the concept of naval ranks was a
    bit foreign to Lyudmila, and so it still felt like a step down the ladder. Then
    again, Deborah probably felt the same way, since in this system the
    supreme rank was Captain, not Commander.
    Lot of changes. This would take some getting used to.
    There was a knock at the doorframe then, and Lyudmila turned to
    see a young Asian medic standing there. "The others are starting to wake
    up, Lieutenant," she said, a little timidly. "Just so you know."
    "Thank you. I'll be there in a minute." With her Russian accent and
    a frame comparable to that of Samson, as well as her high psionic rating,
    Lyudmila had a tendency to intimidate everyone around her, particularly
    people such as this medic, who looked like a brittle twig in comparison. No
    surprise that some of her American squadmates who were fond of the
    MechWarrior RPGs had nicknamed her `The Elemental'.
    She pinned her rank insignia to her coat lapel and headed for the
    recovery room.
    "Gaah... `Hey, Hicks. Man, you look just like I feel.'"
    "Stop with the movie quotes, okay Marcelle?" groaned Zander, the
    trooper who had been addressed. Then he coughed and made a noise
    which was totally inarticulate but nevertheless reflected the pain in his
    throat quite effectively.
    "Here, drink this," said the medic, who had entered the room with
    three plastic bottles containing a clear liquid, one for each of the troopers.
    Otto Zander was first to receive his bottle, then Francois Marcelle, and
    finally Himiko Nagano. Their faces all bore similar expressions of disgust
    as they drank the foul-tasting fluid.
    "Ghah," Himiko croaked. "What is this shit?"
    "An electrolyte balancer," said a new and familiar voice, and the
    three troopers looked up to see their unit commander entering the room.
    "They gave me one too."
    "Sorry about the taste," the medic apologized. "But it's the fastest
    way to get your body chemistry back in order."
    "Sheeze, we didn't have *that* much to drink," Marcelle quipped.
    Then he considered for a minute and looked up at Lyudmila. "Did we?"
    Himiko snickered. Otto did not. In fact Zander appeared rather
    focused on Lyudmila all of a sudden, and she seemed similarly focused on
    Zander. "Hey Sarge, what's wrong?" The troopers recognized their squad
    leader's "bad feeling" mood, and since he was a psi, his feelings were
    rarely ignored.
    "What year is it, Captain?" he said to Lyudmila without preamble.
    "It's Lieutenant now," she replied. "Under the new ranking system.
    And the year is 2040."
    The troopers paled. "Wh... *what*??" Himiko finally sputtered.
    "You heard me," Lyudmila answered flatly, not willing to let shock
    chew up her troops' morale any more than was necessary. "Sergeant, your
    rank is Ensign now. Squaddies, consider yourselves `Able Seamen'."
    "*2040*?!" Himiko went on. "What did they *do* to us?!"
    "*Calm down*, soldier," Lyudmila snapped. "We were placed in
    cryo. Apparently someone up top decided we were too valuable a resource-
    -"
    At that moment a monitor set in the upper part of the wall pinged and
    flared to life, and the face of Commander Deborah Hand appeared. She had
    been a young woman, and a Squaddie, when the troopers had last seen her,
    and the addition of 40 years of age to her face did not help their state of
    mind any.
    "Lieutenant, I need to speak with you immediately."
    "Can we put it off at all, ma'am?" Lyudmila said, trying not to sound
    irritated. "I'm in the middle of debriefing my unit."
    "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but this can't wait. I need you and any
    readily available troops to prepare for immediate departure to Tsunami."
    Hell, barely a few hours out and they're *already* putting us on the
    roster? Lyudmila fumed to herself as the monitor went dead. Outwardly
    she expressed her frustration as a sharp exhale through her nose. "All
    right, squad, you heard the lady. Soon as you can walk without losing your
    balance, get into gear. The techs'll show you where everything is."
    "Yes ma'am!" Zander replied immediately, his old reflexes kicking
    in at Lyudmila's commanding voice. But at the rate we're going I wouldn't
    expect us to be ready for much of anything for at least half a day, Lyu, he
    added privately.
    I know, she answered. Don't worry about it. And she left.
    * * *
    SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
    "Bogey on sonar, ma'am. Bearing zero-four-five, coming straight at
    us."
    Deborah was beside the pilot in an instant, and a moment later
    Lyudmila joined her. She was the only trooper from her squad on this
    rather abrupt flight to she knew not where, since the others were obviously
    in no condition to go anywhere. Another Triton transport would be
    dispatched for them later.
    "Can we get a visual?" Deborah asked.
    "Aye, ma'am," the pilot pressed a couple buttons on his console,
    and a moment later the sonar image was replaced by a dim but
    comprehensible view of a small, yellow-hulled object which seemed to
    stare back at them with big green eyes. "I confirm a bandit, tagging as USO
    Zero-Eight."
    "`USO'?" Lyudmila asked.
    "Unidentified Submersible Object," Deborah elaborated. "One of the
    smaller ones we've been running into."
    What exactly *are* we dealing with, here? Lyudmila thought to
    herself, but kept silent. This was no time for an explanation of what the hell
    was going on.
    "Barracuda Zero-Two to Triton Zero-Three," the radio crackled. "I
    confirm targeting solution on bandit USO Zero-Eight. Do I have permission
    to engage?"
    "Permission granted, Zero-Two," Deborah responded. "But stay at
    maximum range. I don't want to lose my escort, understood?"
    "Roger that, Zero-Three. Engaging."
    A brief flare of thruster energy cut through the darkness of the ocean
    as the Barracuda interceptor shifted onto a new course and rocketed off
    toward the small yellow submarine. The pilot flipped open the safety
    guards on the weapons systems and primed the chambers for the depleted-
    uranium torpedoes he carried. As the targeting computer reported the
    readiness of the weapons systems, the small blip marking the location of
    the submarine passed inside the range marker. The pilot pressed the
    trigger.
    A gleaming metallic cylinder shot from the belly of the Barracuda
    and streaked off into the abyss. The pilot watched its track on the scanner
    as it approached the larger USO blip, and a flash confirmed that it had
    impacted with its target. The ship continued to approach them, however.
    The pilot waited impatiently for the launch tube to be re-primed, and the
    `ready' signal came not a moment too soon for him. He squeezed the
    trigger again, sending another fish after the enemy. Again, the weapon's
    scanner track flew toward its target...
    It missed. Cursing, the pilot again began the interminable wait for
    the tube to reload. He contemplated moving in closer in order to throw an
    Ajax torpedo at the thing, but that might subject him to enemy fire. He'd
    already had one close call with those weird green energy beams and had
    no desire to repeat the process if he could help it. But if this last D.U.P.
    torpedo didn't do the job, he wouldn't have much choice--
    In the next moment the decision was taken out of his hands, for the
    USO changed course and rocketed away at a speed well beyond the
    maximum capacity of the Barracuda. How the hell those things moved so
    damn fast in all this water was beyond him. But, his job was done.
    "Barracuda Zero-Two to Triton Zero-Three," he radioed the transport.
    "USO Zero-Eight has bugged out. Returning to formation."
    "Good work, Zero-Two," answered the voice of the Commander.
    "Drinks on me when we get to Tsunami."
    "Roger that, ma'am," the pilot said, not concealing a grin.
    * * *
    X-COM AQUATIC BASE "TSUNAMI"
    NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
    "Triton Zero-One on final approach," the duty officer reported.
    "Doesn't look good, ma'am."
    "What happened?" Lyudmila asked.
    "A cruise ship was attacked by unknowns near Hawaii. USOs were
    detected in the immediate area. Standard squad of 10 troopers and one
    Coelecanth were dispatched." He became more downcast. "The CO
    aborted the mission. Coelecanth was destroyed. Seven troopers KIA. 80%
    of equipment lost."
    "Damn..." Deborah hissed.
    "May I see the flight roster?" Lyudmila asked.
    "Yes, ma'am," the officer said, handing her his datapad. Lyudmila
    went down the list of crew and equipment, and her eyes got wider and
    wider, in proportion to her disbelief.
    "You sent a squad of one officer and nine *rookies* on what was
    obviously a terrorist attack? With *pistols*? And *no armor*?!?"
    "It was all we had available, ma'am!" the man snapped defensively.
    "And we don't *have* armor."
    "What do you mean you *don't have*--" Lyudmila started to rail
    when Deborah got her attention.
    "We don't have any armor, Lyudmila," Deborah said tensely. "The
    old alloys dissolve in or near sea water. And even if they didn't, there's no
    Elerium anymore!"
    Lyudmila just stared at her in disbelief. At that moment the surface
    of the water in the sub pen began to bubble, and a silvery shape began to
    rise into view.
    "Look, now's not the right time to explain what the bureaucracy did
    to us while you were asleep. I'll fill you and your people in later, all right?"
    Lyudmila hesitated for a long moment, then finally nodded, realizing
    her temper had taken the helm at a bad time, and turned and watched the
    Triton move into docking position. Pockmarks from some kind of weapon
    marred the otherwise sleek hull. Evidently the terrorists had cornered the
    troopers in their transport. That was a very bad place to get cornered,
    particularly if one of the bugs had a Blaster Launcher, or was a decent psi...
    The hatch on the side of the vessel snapped open and three
    bedraggled troopers filed out, the Lieutenant looking almost as gloomy as
    the two Seamen, who had that familiar "Why the hell am I here?" look in
    their eyes. Lyudmila recognized that look, having seen it once too often in
    her own troopers. Technicians clambered into the sub and, after a moment,
    hauled out two plastic tubs, one containing several weapons and other
    assorted items, the other containing the corpse of something. Lyudmila
    had barely set eyes on the latter when the shape of the body registered,
    although its color and scales did not.
    "What the hell kind of a Sectoid is that?"
    "We're calling them Aquatoids," Deborah said as Lyudmila knelt
    down to take a closer look at the body. "They're obviously Sectoids, but
    engineered for underwater existence. I'll fill you in on the aliens we've
    seen at the briefing."
    Lyudmila nodded and turned her attention to the plastic tub of
    weapons. They were... unusual, to say the least, dominated by bright green
    and yellow -- or in the case of what had to be grenades, red -- coloration, a
    sharp contrast to the drab metals which had dominated the old arsenal of
    alien plasma weapons. There were a few sundry items of human origin in
    there as well, which the troopers had apparently had time to salvage,
    presumably from the aliens they did manage to kill. They all seemed to be
    made of gold, she noticed, or at least had some gold element in them. Gold
    rings, a gold watch... there was some kind of necklace buried under the pile
    of grenades too. Carefully she picked it out...
    ...and stared at it in surprised silence for a long moment. The
    simple metal chain ended in a gold mount, but Lyudmila's attention was on
    the large crystal held in place by that mount. It was a piece of golden-
    orange crystal which seemed to sparkle, even in the drab flourescent
    lighting of the sub pen, and despite the fact that it appeared to be encased
    in some kind of thin plastic laminate.
    To Lyudmila and Deborah, who had fought many missions in the
    Alien War, it was unmistakable.
    "Elerium..." Lyudmila said in amazement.
    "You found this on the ship??" Deborah turned to the Lieutenant
    from the Triton, an officer by the name of Gerard Richter.
    "Y-yes, ma'am," Richter answered, not quite understanding what all
    the excitement was about. "One of the lizard-things was carrying it."
    "But *how*...?" Deborah said, more to herself than to anyone else
    present. An Elerium crystal was not something you found on someone's
    gold neckchain on a public cruise ship. The level of security which had
    surrounded the Elerium stocks after the Alien War -- or perhaps it should be
    the First Alien War, now -- made such an idea near unthinkable. And yet,
    somehow...
    Lyudmila, for her part, was staring more and more intently at the
    crystal, which seemed to glitter back at her in response. Almost as if it
    were calling out to her, trying to tell her something. She stood up, and let
    the crystal settle into her left hand.
    And suddenly she was *fairly certain* that something was calling out
    to her... it sounded the same... almost the same as...
    She closed her fist around the crystal and gripped it tightly.
    HELP!!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!
    A panicked face of a young girl with blond hair and very dark --
    almost black --eyes, and an almost primal scream.
    Lyudmila reeled and lost her balance, falling backward and landing
    unglamorously on the decking with a cry. The crystal clattered to the floor,
    making a small, bright flash as it impacted with the metal deck. In the next
    instant Deborah and a few of the officers were at her side, while others just
    stood there staring, more than a little bewildered.
    "Lyudmila! Are you all right?!"
    Lyudmila said nothing for a very long moment, her eyes locked on
    an imaginary point in front of her, her breathing quick and shallow. Then
    she shook herself violently and glanced around at the people clustered
    around her.
    "What happened, Lyudmila?!" Deborah pressed.
    A flicker of light caught Lyudmila's eye, and she found herself
    looking at the Elerium pendant, still lying on the decking where she'd
    dropped it. Slowly, she raised one hand and pointed toward the crystal.
    "I want to find out," she said quietly. "Who that pendant belonged
    to."
    END TWO
    

* * *

END


	5. Aspect 3: Insights

Insights 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT THREE:: Insights
    - - -
    NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
    WRECKAGE OF THE _KUSANAGI MARU_
    "Remind me again what we're doing down here, Lyu," Zander
    remarked as he hauled himself up over the last railing and found himself
    standing on the badly skewed main deck of the wrecked cruise ship. "I really
    keep forgetting."
    "Well, Zen," Lyudmila responded with Zander's nickname. "Officially
    we're down here surveying this dead rustbucket because no one else was
    available. Unofficially it's so we can all get used to moving around in diving
    suits surrounded by a few thousand cubic feet of salt water."
    "Ah," Zander answered with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. "I'm
    glad I know this." Great, no armor and we're all moving at half speed, he
    added privately. How the hell are we supposed to fight anything down
    here?
    Well we're just gonna have to learn now, aren't we? Lyudmila
    answered, sweeping her motion scanner around and detecting only the
    signatures of her own troopers. Listen, it could be a hell of a lot worse: we
    could be doing this in deep water at night, and I could be getting bugs all over
    my HUD.
    Yeah, there is that, I guess, Zander mused, and then switched back
    to verbal communication. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"
    "Cabin number 206-F," came the reply, as Lyudmila stepped down
    through a stairwell and into the corridor below. "According to the cruise
    company's roster the girl we need info on was there. Himiko? Take your
    squad and check out the rest of the upper decks. Zen and I are going in."
    "Roger that, Lyu," Himiko's voice crackled through her earpiece.
    The lights inside the corridor were of course not functional, meaning
    the hallway was dark except for the beams of light which came through
    portholes on the outer hull. Out of reflex the two troopers slowed their pace,
    activating the flashlights built into their diving helmets. Zander gripped his
    gauss rifle a little more firmly, and Lyudmila glanced carefully at her motion
    scanner. There was no motion and no reason to believe that any enemy was
    moving nearby, but neither Lyudmila nor Otto had gotten where they were by
    being careless. Just because nothing showed up on the motion scanner, that
    didn't mean a bug wasn't standing still, hiding nearby and waiting for a
    chance to take a potshot.
    "Here we go," Lyudmila straightened up as her flashlight beam
    landed on a small number plate next to a door, which read `206-F'.
    "How the heck do these things work?" Otto asked, peering at the
    access panel next to the doorway. Card-activated locks had been around in
    1999, of course, but they hadn't been quite this sophisticated, nor had they
    been attached to automatic doors.
    "Well, this one won't," Lyudmila quipped. "No power and all that. But
    seriously, it's probably just a fancier keycard than what we used to have.
    Come on, let's pry this thing open." Some quick work with a couple crowbars
    pried the thin door far enough away that they could pull it open the rest of the
    way with their hands, and they stepped inside.
    "Okay, now what?" Zander asked as he panned his flashlight around,
    surveying the remains of the small cabin.
    "Look for pictures, IDs, anything that'll tell us something about this
    girl."
    "Would you mind telling me who the girl is, Lyu?" Zander said as he
    started poking around in the drawers, finding only assorted pieces of female
    clothing. "I wasn't at the briefing, you know."
    "Sorry, Zen," Lyudmila said, opening a suitcase she'd found and
    rifling through it. "Name is Stefanie Dreyfus. Caucasian, blond hair, age 19
    at time of disappearance."
    "Or of abduction," Zander remarked. Where the bugs were concerned,
    such happening was very likely, and they both knew it.
    "Right, but we can't say that to the civvies."
    "So do I get to know why X-Com is so interested in this Stefanie
    Dreyfus person, or is that need-to-know-basis material?"
    "Yeah, sure. You can be trusted." She went on to briefly explain
    what had happened when she'd first woken up, and what had happened in the
    sub pen at Tsunami.
    "An Elerium crystal?" Otto said with understandable disbelief when
    she'd finished. "How is that possible?"
    "I wondered that myself-- ah, good..." Lyudmila paused as she came
    across some documents, including a passport. She opened it up and stared
    intently at the photo there for a few moments, finally nodding to herself.
    "That's her. That's the same face I saw." Zander shuffled over to have a
    look.
    "Anyway, there's more," Lyudmila went on. "After we had a name, our
    agents did a little digging, and we discovered that her grandparents are one
    Claude Dreyfus, and one Laura Malinov, now Laura Dreyfus."
    "Heh," Zander chuckled, recognizing the names of fellow troopers.
    "So they got married, huh?"
    "Evidently, yes."
    Zander became serious again. "Hold on... does that mean that they
    were stealing Elerium from Alaska Base?" The notion didn't sit well with him,
    but it would explain the presence of an Elerium crystal in public.
    "If they were, they did a damn good job of concealing it because there
    was no report of any loss from Stores at Alaska, and you know how closely
    Stores is watched. Both received honorable discharges from X-Com a few
    months after the war was over. Spotless records for both of them. No way in
    hell they could have accessed any Elerium stocks, such as they were, after
    that, so if they did take some it was while they were still commissioned."
    "Damn," Otto remarked. "But why, though? Assuming they did, of
    course. Sure the stuff's valuable and all, but their monthly salaries were
    worth ten times as much as one ounce of Elerium. And they weren't
    documented psis or anything like that. Why take a crystal? What good would
    it do them?"
    "I don't know," Lyudmila replied, her eyes on the photo of Stefanie.
    "But something is definitely going on, and I'm going to find out what it is, one
    way or another."
    Zander couldn't help observing that Lyudmila seemed unusually
    focused on this matter. But, he kept it to himself, and further told himself to
    relax. After all, the Elemental probably had one of the most level heads in the
    entire X-Com organization. She certainly knew what she was doing.
    Right?
    * * *
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
    TUCSON, ARIZONA
    What now? Laura Dreyfus thought tiredly to herself as she headed
    for the front door yet again. Probably another person coming to offer their
    condolences about poor Steffie. It was kind of them, true, but frankly she was
    starting to get sick of it. The inner door slid open, and through the screen
    door the old woman found herself face to face with two black-clad, sunglass-
    wearing suits. Instantly her guard was up.
    "Laura Dreyfus?" the female suit asked.
    "I'm not sure," Laura replied cautiously. "What if I am?"
    The suits pulled identification badges from pockets, and the male one
    spoke. "James Stutz, X-Com Intelligence Division. This is my associate,
    Sylvie Gaudin." Sylvie nodded in Laura's direction. "Do you and your
    husband have a few moments?"
    "We don't owe X-Com any favors," Laura said flatly, ignoring the bad
    feeling that had begun in the pit of her gut.
    "Please, Mrs. Dreyfus," Sylvie said, as James turned and headed
    back toward the black van parked in front of the house. "A colleague of ours
    has come a long way to speak with you. She's promised to be as brief as
    possible, and then we will be on our way. We give you our word."
    A voice came from elsewhere in the house. "Who's at the door, hon?"
    "Just some crazy salesmen, Claude," she called. It was a code
    phrase. Claude would know there was trouble. She turned her attention back
    to Sylvie. "Why don't I believe you?"
    For a moment Sylvie actually looked slightly downcast, as if she'd
    been personally wounded. Then she straightened up. "If you don't believe
    me, then please believe your colleague." About this time Laura got a good
    look at the woman who was walking up the driveway with James. She was
    much more casually dressed, muscular, and much too familiar...
    "What's going on here?" Claude Dreyfus demanded as he stepped
    into the foyer, ready to protect his wife at any cost. Then he saw the
    approaching woman too, and like Laura, froze up for a moment.
    "Hello Claude, Laura," Lyudmila said calmly. "I need to talk with
    you."
    "So the rumors about units being frozen were true," Claude said when
    he and Lyudmila were outside, in the back patio and out of earshot of the two
    suits, who were now being served coffee by Laura. "We thought you were
    dead. Why'd you do it?"
    "We didn't have a choice, Claude," Lyudmila answered. "They got us
    drunk and before I know what's happening I'm being turned into a human
    popsicle along with my entire squad. Next time I wake up, it's 2040, and I'm
    finding out what the damned bureaucrats did to us."
    "I know..." Claude shook his head. "So stupid. You'd think they
    would have shown a little more gratitude..." He trailed off, considering
    several things. X-Com had been all but dismantled after the Alien War, and
    faded into near nonexistence. Even he hadn't been able to spot any X-Com
    personnel anywhere, something he'd become quite adept at. Now, however,
    they had reappeared...
    "They're back, aren't they?"
    "They're not the bugs we fought 40 years ago, but I would have to say
    yes."
    "I knew..." Claude said quietly, apparently to himself. "Somehow, I
    knew..."
    "Hm?"
    "They've got Steffie, don't they?"
    Lyudmila considered for a minute. "We can't prove that. But... the
    ship she was on was attacked and sunk by bugs..." She reached into a
    pocket and held up the pendant. "And we found this on one of them."
    Claude winced and looked away, the pain very clear on his face. He
    knew what had happened... and what was likely happening to the poor girl
    now. "Oh god..." he moaned. "She must not have been wearing it..."
    Lyudmila was a little confused by that remark. She felt for him, but
    she had a job to do. "Would you care to explain what you mean by that?"
    Claude stared at her. It was easy for Lyudmila to see that she was
    asking him to reveal a very carefully guarded secret, and she could further
    sense that it could be personally damaging, even after all this time. "The
    subject is completely need-to-know, Claude. I'll only tell X-Com what they
    need to know."
    The meaning of Lyudmila's words was easily understood. Whatever
    it was that Claude and Laura had done, only Lyudmila would know about it. It
    was a clear show of respect for a fellow X-Com trooper. Claude nodded his
    understanding after a minute's consideration. He glanced back toward the
    back doors, as if to make sure they weren't being listened to, and then began
    his story.
    "Right after the action on Cydonia, I started to get... funny feelings,
    like there was something we'd missed, something we hadn't done yet. After a
    while I started to feel like all those bugs we'd shot down over the oceans...
    were starting to come back, even though I knew that was impossible. The
    docs all told me it was just post-traumatic stress disorder, all that crap."
    "You're not a certifiable psi, Claude," Lyudmila interjected. "Neither
    was Laura, for that matter. The docs would have every reason to believe it
    was PTSD."
    "I know, I know. But we *had* been in training for a month, and our
    base psionic strength had been determined. It wasn't much, sure, we
    probably couldn't have made a psi-amp work, but it *was there*.
    "Anyway... the feelings got to the point where we felt like we needed
    some protection once we got out of X-Com. We knew they wouldn't let us take
    psi-amps or anything and that probably would have been a waste of time
    anyway. So we decided to sneak a couple Elerium crystals out. It was easy
    to sneak a few small ones out of the refuelling stock for the Firestorm at our
    base. They never gave it a thought, and nobody ever knew the difference."
    Briefly, he tugged a small gold neckchain and pulled something out of
    his shirt. It was another Elerium pendant, smaller than the one Lyudmila
    held. "It's not a real psi-amp, of course," he said, quickly concealing the
    crystal again. "But it's the conduit for the power. It seems to be enough."
    "You're saying you have psi now?" Lyudmila said with more than a
    little disbelief, and yet the notion seemed entirely plausible.
    "I'm saying that whenever we wear these crystals we feel safer. I
    don't know how to explain it. It's like there's some kind of secure wall in
    place."
    "That's all well and good, but how does Stefanie fit into this picture?"
    "Steffie was always hearing voices. The doctors all said they were
    just vivid dreams because they always happened at night, but I knew better. I
    remembered all the old training exercises we'd done at Alaska. I
    remembered how my perceptions changed afterwards. I tried the exercises
    on her," his voice dropped down to an excited whisper. "She was hearing
    *real* voices, Lyu... she was a natural psi!"
    Lyudmila didn't know what to say. Somehow, she knew he was not
    lying.
    "I had to protect her," Claude went on. His narrative had accelerated
    to a very rapid pace now. "I still couldn't shake the feeling, all these years,
    that something was still going down. I had to make sure she knew how to use
    her gift and could take care of herself. I taught her everything the psi-spooks
    at Alaska taught us. I gave her that crystal for her own protection..." He
    broke off, and seemed on the verge of stifling a sob. "It wasn't enough..."
    "It's not too late," Lyudmila mumbled, her own thoughts scrambling to
    reorganize themselves after this flood of information, her eyes focusing on an
    imaginary point in front of her. "It is *not* too late..."
    "How can you be *sure*, Lyudmila?"
    Unconsciously her grasp on Steffie's pendant tightened. "I can't be...
    I just... I just *know*, somehow..." It was clear to both of them that Lyudmila
    had also experienced some kind of change over the years, despite being
    frozen. And if she said she knew... then she did. She looked at Claude.
    "What the hell is happening to us?"
    "You have to find her, Lyudmila," Claude gripped her by her thickly
    muscled arms. He was almost pleading. "God only knows what those filthy
    bastards will do to her. You have to get her back!"
    "I know," she said. "I'm going to." Damned if I know *how*,
    though... she didn't add.
    "You'll think of something. I have faith in you," Claude replied, and
    suddenly they were both looking at each other in surprise. He'd *heard*
    that?!
    "Well, thank you for your time, Claude. This is going to be a big
    help."
    Laura and the two agents looked up from the coffee table as Lyudmila
    and Claude returned from outside, smiling and generally looking a lot less
    tense than when the X-Com group had arrived.
    "Of course," Claude replied cheerily. "Glad to help out an old friend.
    Anything else we can do, be sure and call, okay?"
    "I'll keep that in mind. Well, we won't impose on your hospitality any
    longer. Nice to see you again, Laura."
    "Oh, um, sure," Laura answered, not exactly sure how to interpret the
    sudden change in mood but sensing that playing along would be very wise.
    "Take care of yourselves," Lyudmila turned to her two escorts. "Let's
    go, people." Sylvie and James offered polite goodbyes as well, and a minute
    later they were out the door.
    "Did you get the information you needed, Lieutenant?" Sylvie asked
    offhandedly as she got into the front passenger's seat in the van and closed
    the door.
    "Yes," Lyudmila replied calmly. "And some useful insights to go with
    it. Let's get back to base."
    The two agents nodded. This matter was not one they were cleared to
    know the details on. Their sole purpose had been to escort Lyudmila, which
    they had done. The details did not concern them, and so they calmly
    shrugged it all off without another thought, knowing they had done their job.
    Lyudmila's mind, however, was nowhere near as calm. This is
    unbelievable... she thought, working hard to calm her racing brain. Low-
    level and non-documented psis not only manifesting, but increasing in base
    strength? The spooks always said that was impossible, and yet intelligence
    indicates this has been happening worldwide. My own rating has increased
    exponentially. And I'm physically stronger, too...
    Damn... Something really big is going down on this planet... she
    thought. And if there's bugs involved, then it can't be good...
    After the van had pulled out of sight, Claude sagged into the nearest
    chair and put his head in his hands. "What is it, hon?" Laura asked as she
    knelt in front of him, full of worry.
    In answer Claude pulled her into an embrace. "Say a little prayer,
    sweetheart," he said quietly. "For Steffie. For *all* of us..."
    Laura didn't think about the fear in her husband's voice, merely
    complied with his request.
    END THREE
    

* * *

END


	6. Aspect 4: Lobster Trap

Lobster Trap 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT FOUR:: Lobster Trap
    - - -
    TWO MONTHS LATER
    SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH SEA
    By the time the Triton had touched bottom the hold had already filled
    with water. Some of the troopers tensed up for a minute, both at the chill of
    the seawater and, for those few troopers who hadn't been true aquanauts
    before their recruitment (this included several of the troopers who had been
    removed from cryo in the past few months), the fact that the water now
    surrounded them on all sides. Lyudmila felt that tension gnawing at her, in
    fact, but quickly fought it off. It wouldn't do for her to be having problems
    now. Morale was shaky enough as it was, and now that she'd been
    promoted to Commander and given a whole base to worry about, her
    presence could very well make or break the mission. She'd be damned if it
    was going to be the latter.
    The other Commanders, not to mention Captain Collignon, would
    have preferred that she run her base from the base's holographic geoscape
    map, primarily for morale reasons, since the presence of a high-ranker in a
    field op could cause undue tension, and loss of the same could be downright
    devastating. At the same time, they also conceded that Lyudmila's skills,
    not to mention her increasing `sixth sense' about the tactics of the enemy,
    made her an excellent field operative, Commander or not. When it came
    right down to it, she was probably the biggest help to the war effort -- it had,
    in the past two months, officially been labeled the Second Alien War -- while
    in the field.
    And like it or not, X-Com was needing all the help it could get.
    As soon as she'd hit the release button on the hatch, the large
    Coelecanth next to her rolled out and quickly scanned a large semicircle of
    space just outside the Triton. No bug markers flared on Lyudmila's HUD, so
    she gave the order. "Far Squad out, left. Near Squad to right. Tank, go with
    Near Squad." (It was a hell of a lot easier to say `Tank' than `SWS' or
    `Coelecanth'. And the machine understood her in any case.) Lyudmila and
    her troopers hurried out of the sub and ran -- `ran' being a relative term in
    light of all the water surrounding them -- for the cover of a yellow and orange
    structure a few meters away, while Otto and Himiko took their troopers and
    the Coelecanth toward a cluster of pipelines in the opposite direction.
    "USO ahead... sheeze..." Marcelle started to report before his
    observation degenerated into a comment. The enemy submarine was very
    large, a three-decker which was vaguely reminiscent of the old battleship
    UFOs, except that the old enemies hadn't had any visible windows on their
    outer surfaces. Marcelle voiced that very comparison a moment later.
    "That it does--" Lyudmila started to agree when a new light flared on
    her HUD. "Bug! Right!"
    Marcelle saw it first as he and the other troopers immediately
    crouched low, trying to find cover. It was a new species, and it looked for all
    the world like a human-sized lobster. Except, of course, that it was armed
    with a sonic cannon, the largest weapon of the sonic family according to the
    techs back at Tsunami, who'd been working overtime trying to get X-Com up
    to par with the new enemy tech. So far they'd figured out how the small
    pistol weapons worked and the rifles were close to being deciphered, but the
    heavy pieces hadn't even been touched yet.
    Something in the back of Lyudmila's mind told her that, in this case,
    that was not so good.
    Marcelle swung his gauss rifle forward and had time to squeeze off a
    3-shot burst before diving to avoid the green ball of death which sailed
    through the space his body had occupied. His aim was very true, and all
    three shots impacted with the creature's chest.
    It didn't appear to care.
    "Hell!" Lyudmila hissed as the thing started to aim its weapon again
    to take another shot at Marcelle, who was not thrilled with the situation he'd
    just found himself in. She started to raise her own gauss rifle, but after a
    quarter second of consideration let it drop and grabbed her brand new sonic
    pistol instead. Quickly she took aim and squeezed the trigger. The weapon
    made a squawking noise and sent a green death-ball of its own toward the
    lobster creature. This time the effect was much more noticeable as the shot
    fractured the creature's chest shell, making a noticeable crack and
    staggering the beast. Lyudmila aimed and took another shot, which blasted
    through its chest completely, spraying a greenish ichor into the water. And
    with a scream which Marcelle would later describe as reminiscent of a
    particularly obnoxious, badly-tuned french horn, the thing fell to the sea
    floor.
    "Whoo..." Marcelle heaved a small sigh of relief as he righted
    himself. "Thanks Lyu."
    Lyudmila didn't bother acknowledging him, as she was busy
    contacting Near Squad. "Zen. Lyu. We've got a new bug type. I'm calling
    `em Lobstermen."
    "I copy, Lyu," Zander's voice replied tensely. "Just got a solution on
    one." Sure enough, the bug marker on Lyudmila's HUD flared and pointed
    that very fact out.
    "Use sonics, Zen, or tazers if you can hack it. These things eat
    gauss for breakfast."
    "Roger that-- GRENADE!!" Zen's acknowledgement turned into a yell
    of imminent danger. Several yellow markers on Lyudmila's HUD scattered
    away from a set of pipes, and in the next instant a flash and a shockwave
    disrupted the water several meters away. This was accompanied by a
    series of ten more explosions as several sections of gas pipeline detonated,
    kicking up sand and clouding the water with a wall of bubbles. Zander's
    marker began to flicker.
    "Zen?! ZEN!! Hell! Marcelle, secure these buildings and get to
    cover!!" Lyudmila barked, and then she was running, again not giving
    Marcelle a chance to reply. She had the only medi-kit; the requisition for the
    extras was still on order from Tsunami, damn it all to hell anyway.
    Before she'd even realized it she'd crossed the area separating the
    two squads. The area which had been disrupted by the grenade and
    subsequent gas explosions was still full of bubbles, the remnants of the gas
    pipes themselves spewing rather large ones up toward the surface, but
    through it all she could see Zander on the ground, and she could see the
    Lobsterman, this one with a rifle weapon, advancing on the scattered and
    slightly panicked rookie troopers. She dropped down on her knees, raising
    her pistol.
    But before she could shoot, she was rather startled to see Zander get
    back to his feet. He did not look too good from this angle: Lyudmila could
    see crimson leaking from rends in his aqua-armor, and her field experience
    told her he didn't have much time left with that kind of damage. Hell, at that
    range he should have been dead, flat out.
    But, like the Lobsterman she'd downed earlier, Zen did not appear to
    care. He lumbered forward, thermal tazer in hand. The Lobsterman was
    apparently startled by the reappearance of the trooper, probably just as
    surprised as they were that he'd survived that chain of explosions. But
    before it could bring its weapon back to bear, Zen had gotten right in its face,
    and shoved his tazer into a soft spot where one of its arms connected with
    the body. The creature twitched violently, and then toppled without a sound.
    "Ho-ly shit..." Himiko remarked at the sight. The other troopers had
    similar commentary. Lyudmila was only frozen for a moment, galvanized
    back into action when Zander sagged down on top of the stunned enemy. In
    a flash she was down there, plugging her medi-kit into the contacts on Zen's
    armor, dumping the maximum safe amount of coagulants and stimulants into
    him. He stopped bleeding, and regained some measure of alertness.
    "did i get him...?" he mumbled weakly as Lyudmila tapped her
    helmet against his, allowing them to speak privately.
    "Oh you got him all right," Lyudmila wanted to smile but couldn't, not
    with her second squad leader down. "Can you walk?"
    "ow... i think so..."
    "Okay, get your butt back to the sub and stay put. Marcelle," she
    activated her comm unit again. "We need to regroup, single squad. All units
    take up holding positions at fifty meters from target, keep your grenades
    ready and for god's sake stay away from the pipes. Tank, scout the
    perimeter."
    The Coelecanth obediently rolled forward, sweeping its gauss turret
    from left to right as it surveyed the unsecured perimeter for hostiles. The
    sandy terrain was flat and open except for the few pipeline constructs, which
    made detecting the lack of additional hostiles around the USO very simple.
    Marcelle acknowledged Lyudmila's order and pressed ahead with his troops.
    Himiko was in the process of acknowledging when she noticed something on
    her own HUD.
    "Wait a minute, where's Greer?"
    Lyudmila heard and checked her own HUD. Nobody'd been killed, as
    far as she was aware, so there should have been ten small markers
    representing the troops and one big one for the Coelecanth. There were only
    nine small markers.
    Another bad feeling.
    "Where was he, Himiko?"
    "He was back by the-- what the *hell*?!" Himiko and Lyudmila both
    saw it at about the same time. It was Greer... or more correctly it *had been*
    Greer. The thing coming toward them was a bloated, green-skinned, hunch-
    backed zombie. Which, to Lyudmila and Himiko's experienced eyes, looked
    like it was about ready to finish its rapid gestation. Not good. At all.
    Himiko acted first. "Sorry about this, Greer!" she yelled, kicking
    forward, just a couple meters away from the zombie. It swiped at her
    viciously, but she dodged the blow and unloaded three rounds of gauss into
    its chest. It staggered backward, and then its body began to bulge outward
    as the transformation began.
    But what exploded out of the body was totally unexpected, and far
    more terrifying than any Chryssalid had ever been. This thing looked like
    something right out of one of Lovecraft's books: a giant brain with a beak as
    its only facial feature, and green tentacles that even now were reaching out
    and trying to snare Himiko. Again Himiko acted quickly and decisively,
    blasting the monster with another three-round burst. Thankfully, this
    creature did not share its companions' resistance to gauss, and it collapsed
    in a heap, orange-colored blood oozing out of its shredded brain.
    "Wha--what the hell was that thing?!" one of the rookie troopers
    stammered, backing away, the combination of a fellow trooper dying and the
    thing that had burst out of his corpse clearly unnerving her.
    Lyudmila was in her face the next instant, shaking her hard. "Keep
    your head on, soldier!!" she barked. "And get used to this! You hear?!"
    "Yes ma'am!" the rookie instantly replied with an almost squeaking
    voice. She knew a drill sergeant's command when she heard it. And she
    wasn't going to argue with a commanding officer who had the build of a
    Russian bear anyway.
    "Everybody, stay frosty," Lyudmila said into her comm. "We've got
    at least one Chryssalid analog--"
    She was interrupted by a yell which sounded like it came from
    Marcelle, and then the sound of a tazer being discharged cut through the
    channel. Lyudmila looked up to see another brain-creature sagging to the
    ocean floor, Marcelle standing over it.
    "Well that takes care of that. I hope," Lyudmila remarked. "Okay,
    people, let's get ready for some serious fishing."
    Slowly and cautiously, using every available means of cover, the
    troopers shuffled forward while the Coelecanth rolled ahead of them, serving
    as the advance guard. The snarl of a sonic blast cut through the water as a
    green pulse lanced out from one of the windows on the USO's second deck,
    knocking out one of the Coelecanth's headlights and making a noticeable
    dent in its front armor. The tank's turret snapped around and squeezed off
    three gauss rounds before Lyudmila ordered it to get clear of the window.
    Crouching behind a lightpole, she aimed at the spot where the shot had
    come from and fired her pistol. The green pulse shot into the darkness of
    the window, and then another trumpeting scream rang out.
    "*Nice* shot, Lyu," Himiko said with a quick thumbs-up.
    "Thanks," Lyudmila made her reply very brief before giving her new
    orders. "Okay everybody, we're looking at a lot of catwalks and open
    spaces on the second deck. Spread out and circle the outside, and hug the
    walls; there may be more snipers up there. Tank, can you reach the door?"
    While the troopers fanned out and surrounded the enemy vessel, the
    Coelecanth rolled forward, trying to reach the inner hatchway, but banged
    against the outside wall with a dull clank. It backed up and tried again, but
    the passage was too tight.
    "Well, there went that idea," Lyudmila sighed. "Okay, Himiko, take
    two troopers and get under that catwalk ASAP. I'll cover you. Marcelle, any
    more entrances on your side?"
    "One more," Marcelle answered. "3 o'clock side. Dujardin, Tonida...
    anything on your side?"
    "Nothing at twelve," Dujardin reported. "Another catwalk and a
    window, but no hatchways."
    "Same at nine," Tonida seconded. "No entrances here."
    "Okay," Lyudmila ordered. "Tonida, I want you back at my location
    yesterday; we're going in soon as you get here. Dujardin, link up with
    Marcelle and take the east entrance. Remember people, use sonics if you
    have `em, tazers if you don't." Passage of ten seconds found all the
    troopers clustered in position. Himiko and the troopers with her raised their
    tazers in the water in acknowledgement.
    "Go!"
    As one, Himiko and Marcelle and their charges blazed through the
    hatchways, practically colliding with a Lobsterman who was heading for the
    south hatch. Himiko nailed it with her tazer before it even had a chance to
    react. Quickly the troopers took up guard positions while Lyudmila and
    Dujardin ran forward with their units. No shots were fired, a fact which did
    not escape Lyudmila's notice.
    No snipers and no reception committee? she thought. Bet there's
    a nice party waiting for us topside, then.
    "One door at twelve, passages at 1:30 and 4:30," Dujardin reported.
    "Looks like there's a lift at the end of both."
    "I've got two more passages over here, 10:30 and 7:30," Himiko
    added. "And we've got another door, and one big lift in the center here."
    "Damn, lotta exits to cover," Lyudmila grumbled. "All right, two
    troopers on each corridor, two more check out those doors. Marcelle, we're
    guarding the lift area."
    Marcelle and Lyudmila crouched down, peering into the small central
    alcove. The four-person lift was empty. "Wish we could've gotten the tank
    in here," Marcelle grumbled.
    "Probably would have gotten stuck on the upper floors anyway,"
    Lyudmila replied.
    "Lyu? I've got an empty chamber on the second deck. Doesn't go
    anywhere!" Himiko's voice could be heard.
    "Same over here. Dead end," Dujardin reported from his end. The
    other troopers reported similar findings, and the trooper who had inspected
    the area beyond the doors presently reported that it contained only a few
    empty devices which appeared to be cryos. "Looks like the center lift's the
    only way up."
    "Who *designed* these things?" Marcelle quipped.
    "Maybe we'll find out after we're through here," Lyudmila answered,
    indicating the unconscious Lobsterman behind them. "All right people,
    regroup at the lift. We're going up."
    The four-person lift stopped at the second deck, which turned out to
    be similarly deserted, three of the four passages ending in lifts which went
    to small engine compartments and nowhere else. The veteran troopers
    recognized the pattern and were getting more and more cautious, while the
    rookies weren't sure whether to be happy or nervous because of the lack of
    opposition. The north hallway ended in another four-person lift, and from the
    layout they'd seen already they knew it only went up.
    "Game time, people," Marcelle said in his best Hicks imitation as the
    first group of four troopers took up position on the lift and headed up.
    Lyudmila made a mental note to clobber him when this was all over.
    Doors to the east and west and a small room to the south greeted
    them as they reached the third deck. A quick check of the south passage
    showed that it ended in a small chamber with two small windows in the far
    wall, beyond which lay another corridor. "Can't get to it from here..."
    Lyudmila observed. "Right. Two teams, one to each door! We'll
    rendezvous at the other end of the sub, if possible." Marcelle took the east
    squad, while Lyudmila headed through the west door with her troopers.
    No sooner had the west door been opened than a shot rang out and a
    control panel not far from Lyudmila's head was reduced to rubble. Lyudmila
    dropped behind the nearest large object, another of those cryo-chambers,
    crawled around to the side, and was preparing to return fire when something
    landed on the deck next to her. Recognizing it in a heartbeat, she grabbed it
    and threw it back, ducking behind the cryo again. A sonic shockwave ripped
    through the chamber a moment later. Lyudmila glanced around the side of
    the machine, sonic pistol ready. Which was good, because the swaying but
    still standing Lobsterman spotted her and tried to shoot, but the shot went
    wild. Lyudmila aimed and fired, and the thing went down with a howl.
    "*Tough* sons of bitches," Lyudmila growled, then contacted her
    squadmates, who had yet to step through the door. "Okay, room's clear.
    Move your butts, people!"
    The next chamber was empty, but the number of walls and alcoves
    made searching it more time-consuming than Lyudmila would have liked.
    That seemed to be a trend in every USO they had encountered: lots of twists
    and turns, and a lot of places to hide. Those were good things if you were in
    your element, familiar with the layout of the vessel. The humans were not.
    Shots echoed through Lyudmila's comm as the squad on the opposite side
    engaged enemies. Two alien screams rang out, and one human one. Damn.
    At last they reached another door near the southern end of the ship. Tonida
    hit the switch and ran through.
    There was a dull thud and then a flash. Tonida collapsed without a
    sound, and Lyudmila suddenly felt very woozy. Shit... stun bomb... She
    focused the sum of her will on staying upright, and her vision cleared a bit,
    allowing her to see the bug which had just tried to stun her. The Lobsterman
    was understandably shocked at the failure of its weapon and began backing
    away, trying frantically to stuff another bomb into the launcher's chamber.
    But it never completed the task: behind it, a door opened and Marcelle
    stepped through, leveling his weapon and shattering the back of the
    creature's head with two carefully placed shots.
    "Somebody give me some stim..." Lyudmila wheezed, leaning
    against the nearest wall and fighting hard to stay upright. The nearest
    trooper, a rookie by the name of Cormier, unhooked Lyudmila's medi-kit and
    plugged it in, dumping a double dose of stimulants into Lyudmila's system.
    Lyudmila instantly felt a lot more alert. "Thank you, Cormier." She glanced
    around, taking in the room they were in. "Cormier, I need you and Gaudin
    ahead of me for the next door; your reactions are gonna be better than mine
    now."
    "Yes ma'am," the troopers answered, and edged up to the door on
    the inner wall.
    "Dujardin, Marcelle, have your team watch those windows in the
    north wall and be ready for anything."
    "Yes ma'am."
    The door opened, and the troopers found themselves in a narrow
    corridor which ended in a right turn a few meters ahead. "Looks like this
    leads to the center," Gaudin remarked.
    "Good," Lyudmila answered, a little hyper from the rush the
    stimulants had given her. "Sooner we're out of here the better."
    A strange shrieking sound cut through the water.
    "What the hell was--" Lyudmila started to ask before a reddish-
    glowing object the size of a football swung around the corner and came
    rushing at them. Then she knew. "**BLASTER BOMB**!!!" Every trooper
    who'd heard her yell hit the deck in less than a second. Time slowed to a
    near standstill for Lyudmila as she threw herself back toward the door and
    tried to pull the two rookies with her. Then the world exploded.
    Himiko grunted loudly as the giant shockwave struck her and nearly
    knocked her back a few meters, but she held her position and her combat
    reflexes put her back on her feet in the next instant. If the bug that had fired
    that weapon was still alive she couldn't give it a chance to reload. She
    checked her surroundings: the blast had flattened the corridor and some of
    the central chamber which had been inaccessible before, and through the
    wall of bubbles that had been created she could make out three human
    bodies to her west. One of the bodies was Lyudmila's.
    Rage possessed her when she saw Lyudmila's body. She did not
    think, merely acted. Ignoring the yells of her comrades, she charged through
    the opening in the wall and found herself face to face with the enemy, a new
    bomb in one of its small claws and the oddly-shaped launcher in the other. It
    dropped the weapon as Himiko lunged at it and tried to swat her with its
    massive upper claws. Himiko ducked and stabbed at the creature with her
    tazer. It staggered the beast but did not knock it down, and it swung at her
    again, connecting this time, but Himiko rolled with the hit and came up again,
    thrusting forward with her tazer. This time, success; the creature fell to the
    ground. Himiko narrowly fought back the urge to prime one of her grenades
    and stick it under the hulk at her feet. It was certainly an officer, and live
    officers were what the scientists at Tsunami and Atlantia needed right now.
    She checked her surroundings once more. Nothing else.
    Mission accomplished. Thank god.
    * * *
    No, it couldn't end like this.
    You must not die.
    There was nothing but a dull, black haze for Lyudmila, as she fell
    through a featureless void. It could not be the end. *It could not*.
    Elemental, you must not die.
    Not completely featureless. There was a face. That same face.
    Stefanie... or Steffie... that was the name attached to the face. The visage
    looked at her with eyes that were dark and seemed to be getting darker,
    almost black now. Lyudmila was becoming aware of a twisting pain in her
    guts.
    Please don't die... please don't leave me... The girl's pleading
    voice seemed to stab into her abdomen and intensify the already increasing
    pain. Then, suddenly, the image was gone.
    No! It wasn't over yet!
    Then another face, not human. It looked like an Aquatoid's face, but
    with yellow skin. Come to me, Elemental, it intoned in a deep basso
    voice. You, and your Earth, shall be mine.
    NO!!!
    * * *
    "uhhh..." Lyudmila groaned through a huge haze of pain, and
    became increasingly aware of a cold sensation in her guts.
    "Got her..." Dujardin heaved a huge sigh of relief, watching the
    readouts on the medi-kit closely. "That was close."
    "whuh..." Lyudmila opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of
    several troopers bending over her, a reddish substance -- her blood, she
    realized -- floating in the water around them. "wha' th' hell...?"
    "Congratulations, Commander," Marcelle said soberly, but with a hint
    of awe mixed in. "You're the first person to survive a blaster bomb at
    pointblank range."
    "c... cormier...?"
    "He didn't make it," Himiko said, emotionless. "Gaudin's dead too,
    not much left. They must've taken the major force of the blow. S'probably
    why you just got eviscerated."
    About then Lyudmila realized that the odd cold sensation in her guts
    was seawater flooding her body cavity. There probably wasn't much left of
    her abdomen. She could still feel her legs, though, thank god. A corner of
    her mind thanked every deity she could think of offhand that her lungs were
    intact. Another part started to wonder how she was going to survive without
    a lower digestive tract, before the pain came back in and made itself known
    very clearly, derailing most other thought processes immediately. And she
    was getting colder by the minute.
    "get me outta here..."
    "Already on our way out. Gonna have lots of shellfish for dinner,
    Lyu," Marcelle tried to be reassuring, without much success. Lyudmila
    would have laughed but she was in far too much pain now.
    Damn... this was probably going to be one hell of a hospital bill...
    END FOUR
    

* * *

END


	7. Aspect 5: Fire In The Hold

Fire in The Hold 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT FIVE:: Fire in the Hold
    - - -
    ONE MONTH LATER
    X-COM AQUATIC BASE "ATLANTIA"
    NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
    Lyudmila eased herself down into the chair in front of the array of
    computers and other devices which made up the nerve center of Atlantia
    Base. Her recovery from the perforating she'd taken a month before had
    been nothing short of spectacular, although she was still on a mostly liquid
    diet and was under orders not to move around any more than was
    necessary. The doctors would have preferred she not move around at all,
    but that wasn't going to happen: she still had a base to command, and she
    could not run it from a bed.
    She took in the view in front of her, the far more sophisticated
    computers of the current year providing her with a much more
    comprehensive situation report than she'd ever had access to in the First
    Alien War. The two-dimensional global map she'd seen and used so often
    had been replaced with a three-dimensional hologram of the planet, the new
    network of satellites, radar, and sonar emplacements providing up-to-the-
    second information on all activity across the globe. And with the
    construction of new bases in the South Pacific and South China Sea -- in
    response to flareups of Alien activity in those areas -- the network was
    becoming more efficient with each passing day. The average USO would
    have to be real sneaky to dodge this security net.
    Clicks of an optical mouse provided Lyudmila with detailed data from
    the laboratories and workshops at Atlantia. Research had been coming
    along very well since the successful capture and interrogation of the
    Lobsterman Commander more than a month ago. They now had a
    rudimentary understanding of the Aliens' new communication network, and
    transmission resolvers were being built here and at Tsunami to help gather
    intelligence on the enemy's submarine activities. They also had deciphered
    the nature of most of the Alien weapons, and the technicians in the
    workshops were working their tails off churning out new weapons and
    ammunition -- and better armor -- for the troopers to take into battle. There
    were rumors of a new submarine being constructed in one of the pens at
    Tsunami, but Lyudmila hadn't been able to get in touch with Deborah to
    verify that. She hoped it was true; the Barracudas were woefully
    underequipped to face down the larger USOs they'd been encountering.
    Just like the First Alien War.
    She knew already they were controlling the symptoms, but not the
    disease itself. They had to find the source of the Alien war machine's power
    and neutralize it. Question was, where *was* the source?
    The question burned in her head far more strongly than it ever had in
    the first war, far more than she would consider healthy. She reached down
    and pulled an object from one of her pockets: Stefanie's Elerium pendant. It
    sparkled, as she held it in one hand and looked at it quietly, almost as if it
    were trying to tell her something.
    Or as if Stefanie were trying to tell her something.
    Despite the less than optimistic opinions of everyone around her,
    Lyudmila remained certain that Steffie was still out there somewhere,
    perhaps trapped in some Alien base they had yet to discover. All the leads
    on Stefanie Dreyfus had dried up more than a month ago, since unlike
    previous abductees there was no returning of the victim. In fact, *all* reports
    of abduction this time had yielded no return of the victims, which was
    distressing to say the least. Lyudmila had hoped she would turn up again
    after a week or so and then perhaps an interrogation could take place, but
    this was not possible. The pendant was her only real lead now, and lately
    she'd felt uncomfortable if it wasn't on her person, another thing that
    bothered her a little. Why was this becoming so important? She sighed
    loudly and rubbed her eyes with her free hand, worrying that perhaps she
    was becoming a bit obsessive on this subject. That simply would not do if
    she was to remain an effective commander.
    What the hell is happening to me?
    An alarm tone snapped her out of her introspection. Sonar had
    picked up something which merited attention. Instantly her eyes were on the
    geoscape, searching. The new problem was not hard to find: a small purple
    cross had appeared several nautical miles off the east coast of the United
    States. A terror site. Damn, a USO had managed to slip past the sonars.
    Now the question became what kind of terrorism it was. She flagged the new
    cross with a mouse click, and the computer immediately brought up a large
    screen of data: the vessel under attack was the _Black Betty_, a U.S.-flagged
    cargo freighter. Great, just great; the bastards had launched another attack
    on United States commerce. Funding from the Americans was already on
    shaky ground because of persistent attacks by Alien marauders, both on sea
    and land, and this one could cause the States to pull out of the X-Com project
    altogether.
    Unless, of course, something was done about it right now.
    * * *
    Although it was nighttime the crew of Triton Zero-Four had no trouble
    at all locating their quarry as they burst out of the water: the _Black Betty_
    still had power and her deck lights were gleaming like a miniature airstrip for
    her rescuers. Himiko quickly located a small heliport pad at the ship's stern
    which was sufficiently large for the Triton to land on, and circled the Triton
    over the ship in hopes of spying any bugs which might be traipsing around
    in plain view on the upper decks. At first she saw only one or two civilian
    crew, apparently wandering around in a daze, but then more rapid movement
    caught her eye, and she saw another sailor running from what appeared to
    be another human in an old-style diving suit. Himiko knew the latter was
    anything but human. "Zen, Calcinite on top deck."
    "I see it," Zander replied, looking through the forward viewport at the
    chase below. "Get us down fast. Okay people, party time!" he called back to
    the rest of the troopers, who were all ready for action. Himiko swung the
    Triton around and let it fall as fast as safely possible toward the helipad.
    With a thump and a shudder, the Triton hit the deck.
    "I've got Far Squad. Marcelle, you're with me," Zander organized the
    group in seconds. "Himiko, you and Dujardin take Near Squad."
    "Got it," Himiko answered as she got up from the pilot's seat and
    grabbed her Blasta rifle. Zander and Marcelle took up positions in front of
    the hatch. It felt a little less secure, not having a Coelecanth to provide
    initial cover fire for the squad, but experience had proven that Coelecanths
    just weren't cut out to navigate the corridors of ships. Fortunately this
    allowed four additional troopers to come along, so there was no shortage of
    firepower by any means.
    "Ready?" Zander asked Marcelle.
    "Willing," Marcelle replied with a grin.
    Zander slammed the release pad with his free fist and the hatch
    snapped open. "Go!"
    Marcelle was out and running in an instant, racing toward the back of
    the Triton. A shot snarled out from an upper deck but missed him, striking
    the bulkhead behind the sub instead. Zander leaped out of the hatchway and
    fired off his Sonic Cannon, catching the offending Tasoth in the chest and
    spraying purplish blood. It squeaked loudly and disappeared from view.
    "Far Squad out!" Zander snapped to his charges. "Head for the
    hatchways! Near Squad, secure the platform then take the upper decks! Far
    Squad will take the hold!"
    "Sir!" Himiko and Dujardin stereoed as the Far Squad troopers
    leaped out of the Triton and raced for the hatchways in front of them. The
    Near Squad troopers fanned out and quickly checked around the numerous
    crates and barrels dotting the platform. Nothing was waiting to surprise
    anyone except Dujardin, who came face to face with a Calcinite as he was
    checking a small room to starboard, but a quick zap from his tazer solved
    that problem. "Got a live one, Himiko!" he called triumphantly. "Calcinite!"
    "Excellent!" Himiko grinned. "The Tsunami spooks've been wanting
    to get one of those things live. Nice job! Okay people, head for the decks!"
    The troopers of Near Squad split into two groups and ran for the stairwells,
    their morale already on the upswing.
    * * *
    Marcelle peered cautiously around a corner, finding himself looking
    down a narrow, ill-lighted corridor that reminded him too much of the
    passageways from the _Alien_ films. The thought brought up nasty
    memories of Chryssalids and troopers who had died at their claws, and he
    shook his head to clear it. Zander and the rest of Far Squad needed to know
    this area was clear before they could proceed. Carefully he edged forward.
    There were several doors on the forward wall, each with a porthole next to it.
    He peered carefully through each porthole, finding a small crew cabin
    beyond, then quickly darted through each door to make sure the cabin was
    really empty. He repeated this process until he was at the end of the
    hallway, where the corridor branched off into a larger alcove which in turn
    would lead toward the ship's primary cargo lift. He glanced behind him and
    gestured to Zander that the area was clear, and the sound of approaching
    footsteps came to his ears as he turned his attention back toward his next
    target. His rear was covered. So far, so good--
    The snarl of a Blasta rifle rang out, and something exploded not far
    from Marcelle's head. "The *hell*?!" he shouted as he rolled away. That
    shot had come from behind him! In a heartbeat he was crouched in a
    defensive position and facing toward the source of the shot, ready to gun
    down the alien he'd somehow managed to miss. But all he saw was
    Tonida... with a blank look in her eyes, walking toward him like an automaton
    and raising her Blasta to fire again. Marcelle weighed his options, realized
    he couldn't dodge out of the way and was too far away to try subduing her,
    and sadly raised his heavy cannon. But then she froze and collapsed, and
    Marcelle saw Zander lowering his tazer.
    He wanted to sigh in relief but there was too much of an immediate
    threat to allow any relaxation time. He spun around quickly, checking all the
    surrounding space for any sign of an Aquatoid or Tasoth, but he saw nothing.
    "I didn't see a damn thing, Zen," he grated as Zander ran up behind
    him. "Those rooms were *clear*, and there's nothing over here."
    "Yeah, well they can see us," Zen grumbled in reply. "There's gotta
    be one hiding around--nngh!" He stopped, and winced noticeably,
    reflexively dropping the weapons he carried in his hands. "Oh shit this is a
    strong one!"
    "Well where the hell is it?!" Marcelle looked around frantically,
    above and below them. He also began moving away from Zen. Just in case.
    "How the hell are they seeing us?!" There was nothing there, not even
    civilian crew.
    "Maybe..." Zen managed to say in the midst of the battle for control
    of his own mind. "Maybe they... don't... need to..." He'd had mental battles
    with his fair share of Sectoids and a few Ethereals in the first war, and now
    Aquatoids and Tasoths in this war. He knew what those things sounded and
    felt like when they invaded someone's mind, and he'd found himself able to
    repel most of the Aquatoids and Tasoths he'd encountered so far with
    surprising ease. But this was totally new, and yet amazingly familiar,
    somehow. He felt his thoughts rapidly turning against Marcelle and the
    others...
    Then, abruptly, it was gone. Zen sagged to the floor, leaning against
    the closest wall, then shook his head violently to clear the cotton out of his
    thoughts. "Shit, that was too close."
    "You all right, Zen?" Marcelle asked.
    "Yeah. What the hell *was* that?" He immediately regretted saying
    that out loud, but it was too late now. He keyed his headset. "Everybody!
    Fan out, be *extremely* careful. They've got at least one nasty psi on their
    team. Himiko, what's your status?"
    "Just cleared a sniper off the top deck," Himiko's voice rattled
    through the comm channel. "Didn't get a good look at it but it might be your
    psi, Zen. Dujardin got zapped, but he woke back up after I nailed the sniper.
    Top decks should be secured in another minute or two."
    "Roger that."
    The door at the far end of the alcove snapped open as Marcelle
    jumped through and quickly swept the area beyond for hostiles. The fact that
    he didn't immediately leap back through the door told Zen that the area was
    clear, and it was confirmed by voice a moment later. "Zen, I have the main
    lift in sight. All clear."
    "Right. Okay, Far Squad, move out!"
    Himiko clambered up the stairwell and immediately crouched as she
    saw movement in the shadows at the opposite end of the deck, not far from a
    small ladder which led to the topmost level. She couldn't be sure if the
    bogey was a bug or some poor civvie who was stranded up here. Then it
    was gone, disappearing behind the far wall. Himiko pressed herself up
    against the wall and motioned for her troopers to follow.
    "Dujardin," she said quietly. "Take Andianov and Rausch and go
    around the starboard side. Ramirez, Smillie, you're with me on this side."
    A small chorus of assent followed her orders and the troopers fanned
    out, moving cautiously along the walls, Himiko and her charges carefully
    watching the area ahead which was only partly illuminated by the arc lamps
    lighting the upper decks, while Dujardin and his charges took the opposite
    path, trying to corner whatever was back there. Himiko listened to the
    sounds coming from the main communication channel. Zen and his squad
    had descended to the bottom level of the ship's cargo hold and were slowly
    working their way back to the main deck, clearing out the bugs as they went.
    It was apparently anything but easy, if the transmissions -- and the
    occasional gunshots and explosions -- she was hearing were any indication.
    Evidently this ship had a lot of volatile material in its hold; sounded like
    there was a whole section devoted to fuel drums. She tried not to think about
    the inherent danger in that sort of arrangement.
    "Himiko..." Dujardin's voice whispered quietly through the channel.
    "Got one Aquatoid in the control room. Can't see anything up above from
    here; we're coming around."
    "Right--"
    Something clattered on the decking up ahead. The troopers froze for
    a moment, then Smillie, the farthest ahead, continued edging forward, and
    cautiously peeked around the corner. No sooner had she done this than she
    threw herself backward, and a moment later the reason for her action
    became obvious as an explosion shredded the fore decking and the stairwell
    there. Smillie frantically moved to get back upright when something landed
    on the decking nearby, and she found herself staring up at the angry
    reptilian visage of a Tasoth, directly in front of her and bringing its weapon to
    bear. Dodging was impossible. Frantically she grabbed for her sonic pistol,
    her right hand finding it in half a second and bringing it around as all her
    fast-draw skills were channeled into this all-important instant.
    The high-pitched snap of a sonic pistol discharging was eclipsed by
    the much louder, longer snarl of a sonic cannon.
    "NO!!" Himiko roared, leaping up and firing off her heavy cannon,
    catching the Tasoth in the chest and finishing the job Linda's shot had
    started. The alien toppled over the railing in a spray of purple and yellow
    gore, making a sickening splatter as it hit the deck below. Himiko kept
    running ahead and around the corner, red speckles dotting her vision,
    forcing herself not to look at Linda's sightless eyes looking up at the stars,
    ignoring the shouts of protest she heard. She smashed through the door at
    full speed. There was a sound of a sonic blast and something slammed into
    her right shoulder, but she ignored it. All she saw was the blue-green, red-
    eyed bug in the center of the room. Swinging her rifle around, she smashed
    it in the jaw, knocking its weapon away and sending it sprawling. It
    remained against the far wall, half-curled into a ball, fidgeting, orange-red
    blood oozing from the corner of its mouth. Himiko stalked toward it slowly,
    deliberately, her intentions unmistakable.
    The Aquatoid looked up at her, and saw the glow in her eyes. And
    suddenly, for the first time in its life, it was truly afraid.
    Himiko raised her cannon and pulled the trigger.
    "Lieutenant?"
    "What is it, Dujardin?"
    "Sir, you better get up here. I think you should see this."
    Zander shrugged, left Marcelle to oversee the removal of the rest of
    the corpses and weapons from the somewhat damaged hold of the ship, and
    headed for the location of Dujardin's marker, up near the conning tower. On
    the way he was met by several crew members who offered profuse thank
    yous and asked the usual slew of questions. Zander offered polite stock
    responses to all of them and continued on his path up the stairwells toward
    his destination. On the way he passed by the body of one of the rookie
    troopers, one Linda Smillie. There wasn't much left of her chest, and she
    stared sightlessly up at the stars, which continued to sparkle indifferently,
    as if nothing of consequence had happened. Zen bent down and pushed her
    eyelids closed, and shook his head sadly. This was the worst part of the
    wars. Always had been. But now *he* was the Lieutenant. Now *he* was
    the one writing the damned next of kin letters.
    It occurred to him then that she had been one of Himiko's charges,
    and also that Dujardin had contacted him, rather than Himiko. Not a good
    sign; if Himiko had gone berserk again... this loose cannon shit was going to
    get her in serious trouble one of these days, especially now that she was an
    Ensign, the equivalent of a Sergeant. Ensigns needed to keep their heads
    on straight. Himiko might already have blown it...
    He shrugged the bad feelings off. He had a job to do. The last
    stairwell he had to climb was a little banged up, since a Pulser had
    obviously gone off in the area, but it was still negotiable, and he made his
    way to the topmost deck in very short order. Dujardin gave a quick salute as
    Zen arrived.
    "What's up, soldier?" Zen asked.
    "It's over here, sir," Dujardin said, and gestured toward one corner of
    the decking, where an alien corpse was visible. It looked like an Aquatoid at
    first, but Zen began to doubt that assessment almost immediately. It was
    the right color for an Aquatoid, but... it was too large. Perhaps it was a Deep
    One... but they'd seen dozens of those things now; that wouldn't merit his
    personal attention. What was going on here? The two troopers stepped
    closer, and Dujardin reached down and turned the body over, so Zen could
    get a better look at its front side.
    There was a long silence.
    "Jesus......" Zen finally whispered.
    END FIVE
    

* * *

END


	8. Aspect 6: Colony Chaos

Colony Chaos 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT SIX:: Colony Chaos
    - - -
    The rumble of the ocean doors opening, followed by the odd-
    sounding *whoosh* of the Manta attack submarine leaving its pen and
    achieving maximum velocity in a few seconds, caught Zander's attention
    quite easily as he stared up at the dark ceiling of his quarters trying to will
    himself to sleep. No alarms had sounded, so apparently the Manta was off
    on a patrol mission. Horrible hour for a patrol, though. Zen tried to forget
    about it and get back to sleep.
    Twenty fitful minutes later Zen knew he was not going to achieve any
    form of unconsciousness anytime soon. There were too many things on his
    mind, chief among them what was happening to the psis both old and new,
    long before the new psi labs had been constructed and begun their
    "Molecular Control" implantation and training. The nature of the new training
    bothered all the veteran troopers, especially the psis, quite a bit: implanting
    a piece of metal in the trainee's skull, supposedly so they could make the
    new psi-amps work? Lyudmila didn't buy it, and neither did Zen. Something
    was wrong with that picture.
    Lyudmila had told him about the things she'd seen and heard, about
    the new manifestations and development of psi in more and more people.
    He'd known it was true, because he'd felt it all happening in himself, from the
    moment he'd come out of cryo. His awareness of everything around him
    was heightened more and more with each passing day, almost to the point
    where he could feel the presence of everyone -- and everything, including
    the bugs -- around him. More and more he could understand what Lyudmila
    was going through.
    Lyudmila. There was a source of concern, far greater than Himiko's
    (or anyone else's) problems. Going through much the same thing as she
    could help Zen identify with some of her troubles, but Lyu had always been
    considerably more powerful than Zen, or any of the other psis. She had
    been getting progressively more edgy as the months had rolled past. Part of
    it was certainly the fact that she spent more of her time cooped up in the
    base by virtue of being the base's commander. Zen experienced the same
    sort of itch himself, although his lower rank did permit him to go into the field
    more easily. But, it was not just being stuck away from the battle.
    Something a lot deeper was eating at her. He had some idea of what it might
    be, from educated guesses, but he didn't like where the resulting
    conclusions all seemed to lead. In fact it scared him a little: there was a
    growing sense of unease among all the high-level psis he'd spoken with, an
    increased sense of being watched. The implications, if he allowed himself to
    think about them, were frightening.
    It didn't help that he kept hearing Marcelle's voice in his head,
    quoting: "Mr. Mulder, they've been here for a long, long time."
    Finally he couldn't take it anymore and rolled out of his bunk,
    shrugging into enough clothes to make himself presentable, and began a
    long, winding path through the corridors of the base, listening absently to the
    sound of his shoes on the metal decking, trying to get his mind focused on a
    more pleasant subject.
    The X-Com top brass had thankfully remembered a few things from
    the First Alien War: Atlantia had been constructed in such a way that the only
    path from the sub pens to any of the other base facilities, and vice-versa,
    was by way of the airlock. And further, the facilities were strung together in
    one long line. While this sometimes made getting from place to place a bit
    of a chore, it also made the base much easier to defend from attack. Neither
    base had been assaulted, thankfully, but with the ongoing interceptions, it
    certainly was only a matter of time. He hoped the new Pulse Wave Torpedo
    defenses -- the aquatic equivalent of the old Fusion Ball defenses -- would
    be completed before then. Presently he found himself approaching the
    base's command center. He regarded the door for a moment, weighed his
    options, decided he wasn't going to feel better until he got a few answers,
    and tapped the access button.
    Lyudmila almost turned at the sound of the opening doors, but she'd
    known who it was, and so didn't bother. In another time and place it might
    have bothered her that she *had* known who it was, but not now. "What are
    you doing up?" she simply asked, her eyes never leaving the geoscape.
    Her voice betrayed the fact that she hadn't slept in a while.
    "I could ask you the same thing, Lyu," Zen replied. He wasn't
    surprised by what he'd seen; he'd have been more surprised if she hadn't
    been in here, in fact. What bothered him was what he felt.
    He looked up at the geoscape, which was currently centered over the
    Caribbean. A stationary yellow cross appeared in the waters there,
    apparently identifying their Manta. The datascreens indicated it was
    engaged in a patrol sweep, as Zen had guessed.
    "Anything, Zero-Two?" Lyudmila keyed her comm.
    "Nothing on scopes, Atlantia," the Manta's pilot replied, with a hint of
    what could have been annoyance. "Commander, I don't think there's
    anything down here."
    "Keep scanning until fuel hits critical, Zero-Two," Lyudmila replied, a
    bit testily. "I need to be 100% certain there's nothing down there."
    "Roger that, Atlantia," the pilot sighed. "Continuing patrol."
    Zen waited until the channel was closed again, then turned to Lyu.
    "The Caribbean? There hasn't been any activity there since the port attack
    in March."
    "That's what bugs me, Zen," Lyu answered, and Zen noticed that she
    was fingering something in her left hand. Didn't take much guesswork to
    figure out what it was. "They've come back to all the other zones, all the
    other oceans, but not this one. Like they're purposely avoiding the area."
    "Maybe they already got what they wanted from that zone."
    "No, that area's got too many of the things they want: mineral
    resources, gold, trade routes, you name it. So where are they?" she began
    gnawing on one of her knuckles.
    Zen was silent for a long time, again weighing all options, before
    speaking: "What's up with you, Lyudmila?"
    "What do you mean?"
    "Well, for one thing, you've been acting less and less like yourself
    as time goes on. You're obviously not getting enough sleep, you're
    focusing on feelings and theories instead of solid fact... and frankly people
    are starting to wonder about your command fitness."
    For the first time she looked at him. "*Who's* worried about my
    command fitness?"
    "Me, if you must know. Something is happening to you, Lyu, and
    you're not telling us what it is. I'm the second in command, and I'm having
    trouble doing my job because I'm not getting the full story from my CO. I
    need the full story, Lyu. Don't make me relieve you of command to get it."
    They stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Finally, when
    it became quite clear that Zen was not backing down until he got some
    answers, Lyudmila relented.
    "Remember the new alien you found on that cargo ship?"
    "Yeah. I've been wondering why you haven't released the reports on
    it."
    "I haven't released the reports because I don't have them, Zen. I
    don't know *anything*. Haven't heard a word from Tsunami about it since I
    sent the body to their spooks for analysis. It doesn't take this long to
    generate an autopsy report on an alien, no matter how weird it is. Worse,
    whenever I send a query about it, nobody seems to know what the hell I'm
    talking about. Now either the body somehow disappeared..."
    "...Or something's being hidden from us," Zen finished, realization
    dawning. Secrets within X-Com, with the personnel themselves not cleared
    to know them?? Something was wrong here. "Why would they hide it?"
    "I don't know, but they did. I could feel it over the phone line -- that
    scares me too, Zen, that I can feel these things over video channels.
    Deborah and Captain Collignon, they all but denied the existence of the
    damn thing, which makes *me* think," Lyudmila's cool front slipped a bit.
    "That they found something *really* damn scary, and if we don't find out
    what it *is*, *soon*, we may be in serious shit, okay?"
    Zen didn't know what was more unsettling: what was going on in X-
    Com's top echelons, or what was happening to Lyudmila. She almost
    seemed to be on the edge of panic about this. "So why are you sending the
    Manta to patrol an inactive zone at this god-awful hour of the night? What
    does that have to do--"
    "Atlantia!" the voice of the Manta's pilot interrupted them. His
    annoyance had been replaced with what sounded like excitement. "Picking
    up trace energy readings!"
    Lyudmila all but lunged for the comm. "Lock on, Zero-Two! Locate!"
    "Locating now, Atlantia... locating... and... got it!"
    A new marker appeared in the exact center of the Caribbean Sea: a
    purple box. The standard identification symbol for an enemy base.
    "Bingo!!" Lyudmila exclaimed.
    "Goddamn, Commander," the pilot said. "You were right!"
    "Good job, Zero-Two!" Lyudmila replied. "Now get your ass back
    here. Atlantia out."
    "Roger that, Atlantia. Manta Zero-Two returning to base. Out."
    "Zen, get the squads together and get the Triton ready!" Lyudmila
    said as she got up from her chair and headed for the exit. "We're going
    down there!"
    "Negative, Lyu."
    Lyu spun and faced him, wide-eyed. "Excuse me??"
    "My troopers are not going anyplace right now, Commander. And
    neither are you."
    The next thing he knew, he was up against the wall, and Lyudmila
    was staring him in the eye. For a minute he thought he saw a red glow in her
    eyes, but it could have been his imagination. Dammit, Zander, this is
    *IMPORTANT*!
    Lyu, *calm down*, he thought in response, as calmly as he could
    manage, but some red speckles started creeping into his own field of vision.
    What the hell is happening to you?!
    That seemed to make Lyudmila realize what she was doing, and she
    released him, backing away. "I'm... sorry, Zen..."
    "Lyu, I *will* get the squad together for the assault," Zen said. "But
    not until everyone who's going has gotten at least eight hours of sleep. And
    that means you, too. If this is as important as you say it is, you need to be
    prepared... or you're liable to walk into a trap, and get us all killed."
    Lyudmila was silent. Everything he said was true, and she knew it.
    It also seemed to have dawned on her what she'd been doing. Suddenly she
    looked very very tired. "You're right, Zen... you're right..."
    "We can leave tomorrow morning, Lyu," Zen said, willing to
    compromise a little. "That'd put us there in early afternoon. I'll have the
    ship ready and waiting. Now get some sleep, okay?"
    "Yeah..." Lyudmila answered quietly, and shambled out of the
    command center. Zen watched her go, watched the door close behind her.
    For several minutes he kept watching the closed door, then his eyes
    traveled over to the computer screens, to the geoscape. He watched the
    Manta's yellow cross draw closer to home, then focused back on the
    Carribbean, to the glowing purple box.
    He wondered what was waiting for them down there.
    * * *
    At surface level it was a beautiful, crystal clear day over the
    Caribbean Sea. But only a small fraction of that light penetrated to the
    depths which Triton Zero-Four was descending to: the target area was bathed
    in a cold, gloomy twilight which would make fighting more difficult. All the
    Alien colonies X-Com had encountered so far had been like this, built in the
    darker depths of whatever oceans they were in. Not so deep that they were
    unapproachable, thankfully, but that was not much of a consolation.
    "Everybody suited up?" Zen called to the troopers, who were in the
    final stages of sealing and energizing their armor -- the new ion-based power
    armor, far more sturdy and effective than the old plastic -- and snapping clips
    for their sonic weapons into place. A chorus of affirmatives came back.
    "Ready on this end, Lyu."
    "Right," Lyudmila answered, sealing her own armor. "Ten seconds
    to touchdown. Kill the lights and prep for flooding."
    Zander threw a switch and the inside of the Triton became dark
    except for the glow of the onboard sonar unit and the control panels, then
    threw the lever which flooded the interior. Lyudmila felt her inner tension
    increasing noticeably as the water surrounded her, but fought it back down
    just as quickly. She was really edgy on this run, and the closer they had
    gotten to the base, the worse it became. Her awareness of the enemy
    presence, here, now, grew more intense. They were here, and waiting...
    She checked her armor one last time to calm herself: it was sealed
    and properly energized. The new power armor, in addition to providing a
    much thicker hide, gave everyone greater mobility, regulated internal
    temperature, and generally had increased everyone's survivability by a
    significant measure. Lyudmila, for her part, was wearing an experimental
    new version of the Ion Armor, sporting a small additional displacer unit in its
    backpack which theoretically would enable her to float through the water
    without any effort. She was looking forward to putting it to the test.
    "Okay, people," Zen keyed his comm-link. "Far Squad will consist of
    officers and high psis. Dujardin, you and the tank will head up Near Squad;
    hang back until we clear the area around the Triton, and try to stay out of
    sight so you don't get turned into a mind puppet."
    "Yes sir." Dujardin was one of the troopers who, after being
    identified as a strong potential psi, had consented to the new implantation
    operation. The way he carried his Molecular Control Disruptor -- the fancy
    new name for the psi-amps; most people preferred to just say "MCD" -- told
    Lyudmila that he would feel more comfortable with a Blasta or a Sonic
    Cannon in his hands, but he knew the best way to improve his skill was by
    doing. She felt for him.
    With a soft bump, the Triton settled into the dark sands. Lyudmila
    hefted her DPL -- "Disruptor Pulse Launcher" was such a cumbersome
    name; why did everything's identity have to be so complicated? -- in one
    hand, a task made much easier by her power armor. The weapon was the
    aquatic equivalent to the old Blaster Launchers, and was really meant to be
    carried and used with two hands, but her other hand was busy holding her
    own MCD. The scientists had warned the existing psis that the MCDs would
    be less reliable without an implant, but Lyudmila was going to try it anyway,
    if for no other reason than to prove it was possible to use it without one. The
    notion of having something stuck in her head bothered her quite a bit, largely
    because the aliens had much the same device stuck in their own skulls.
    This was a direction unlike any X-Com had taken before, and it struck her as
    fundamentally wrong. Many of the other vets had shared her sentiment.
    Zen hit the release pad, and the hatch snapped open, the illumination
    from the Coelecanth's headlights piercing the gloom a few meters in front of
    them and revealing a small guard tower to the southeast. "Tank out," he
    ordered. It dutifully rolled out and swung around quickly, sweeping the
    semicircle of gloom in front of them. It found a target almost immediately,
    aiming for the faint undulating glow atop a nearby guard post and snapping
    off two gauss rounds. There was a splattering noise, and fragments of a
    jellyfish-like Hallucinoid sank to the ocean floor. Instantly Lyudmila felt the
    tension in the water increase: they were alerted now, alerted and ready. And
    so was she.
    "Let's go." Zen and Himiko darted out from behind the protection of
    the Coelecanth and began edging along the side of the Triton, toward the
    ship's rear and toward the eastern arm of the base's entryway, while
    Marcelle and Tonida ducked around the front of the Triton to prevent any
    ambush from behind. Lyudmila also jumped out, but instead of following
    either of the 2-person parties she keyed the controls on her armor. The
    backpack made an odd humming noise -- very similar to the sound made by
    the enemy units called Bio-Drones, a corner of her mind noted -- and she felt
    herself lifting off the sand, into mid-water. Presently the roof of the Triton
    came into view, and she floated forward, stepping onto its surface and
    crouching next to the vessel's small sonar tower. All her instincts told her
    this was the place to be, for the moment.
    Her instincts were quickly proven correct: no sooner had she attained
    her perch than she spotted movement to the north, approaching. Through
    the gloom she could see that it was a Tasoth, armed with a DPL of its own.
    She knew Zen and Himiko would be too close by now to risk using her
    Launcher. Time to put the MCD to the test, then: she raised the device in
    front of her, and focused her will. Instantly a strong sense of calm filled her,
    and she felt herself reaching out toward the presence in front of her.
    Reaching, and seizing.
    "Tasoth north!" Himiko called as she spotted the creature herself.
    "It's got a DPL!" she continued, more loudly.
    "I've got it," Lyudmila replied instantly, and with the unearthly calm
    she'd always displayed when using her power. There was a brief struggle
    for control as she invaded the soldier's mind, but she shoved the alien's
    conscious will out of the way with minimal effort, and its body was hers to
    command. So much for needing the implant to make the MCD work; she was
    going to have a talk with the spooks about this. She made the alien clear the
    waypoints it had programmed into its Launcher, then turned it to face their
    less protected western flank, where she sensed a building presence.
    Through the Tasoth's sensitive eyes she saw what her own could not
    possibly have detected. Two more Hallucinoids were beginning to float
    away from their perches on the southern arm of the base's entry, and a
    Tentaculat was there as well, swimming toward the Triton and presumably
    toward Marcelle and Tonida. Stupid animals, bunching so close together like
    that. Lyudmila spared one second to make sure none of her troopers were
    too close, and then had her mind puppet program waypoints in its DPL. One
    second later the shriek and red glow of a Disruptor Bomb cut through the
    darkness, followed in the next by a brilliant flash. The southern arm of the
    structure was shredded, along with the three aliens above it, and a section of
    the upper southern wall was shattered as well.
    Yes! Lyudmila thought. The damage to the wall was unexpected
    but certainly welcome. Previous base raids had shown that the area
    surrounding the entry portal was always heavily defended. One good shot
    through that hole with her DPL would set off a chain reaction which would
    hopefully kill or severely maim much of their opposition--
    Suddenly the sound of gunfire rang out... underneath her. A scream
    split the comm channel, followed by panicked yells. She spun in place,
    checking her surroundings with lightning speed. "Dujardin, what the hell's
    going on?!"
    "They hit Gomez," Dujardin's tense voice came back. "He got
    Broomski, I had to kill him."
    "Shit!" Lyudmila cursed. "Zen, sounds like one of our new friends--"
    And suddenly there were many voices in her head. She could have
    repulsed any single one of them with relative ease, but this was different, an
    en masse attack.
    It is her! a high-pitched, squeaky male voice said.
    It is the Elemental! The Dreamers were right! exclaimed another.
    Excellent. Come to us, Elemental, said a much deeper, calmer
    voice. Leave these fools to their doom and take your rightful place among
    us.
    *Never*, Lyudmila growled back, dropping her DPL and gripping
    her MCD with both hands, trying to block the enemy attack. They were
    strong... damn, they were strong. Beads of sweat began to appear on her
    forehead. In the darkness beyond the small hole in the wall, she thought
    she could make out the glowing red eyes of an Aquatoid. She tried to force
    her way past the collective mental assault and seize the creature, if only to
    get a good look at her opposition.
    Your defiance is futile, another voice, nasal and higher-pitched,
    said; she was sure it was the Aquatoid she could see now. You know that
    T'Leth is your true master. You *will* join--what?!
    And suddenly each and every one of the alien voices was eclipsed
    by a new voice, female, and starkly familiar. Elemental?! Elemental!!
    HELP ME!!!
    Zen, and several other troopers, jumped as a primal scream nearly
    blew their headsets out. Then a Disruptor Bomb shot from the roof of the
    Triton and angled through the small hole in the southern wall. All of the
    black portholes on the structure's walls briefly went white as a massive
    explosion lit up the inside of the building, and the roof exploded in a cloud of
    bubbles and debris. Zen felt the alien mental presence in the area drop
    noticeably. The next thing he knew, Lyudmila was flying through the water at
    an impossibly high speed -- impossible, that is, for non-telekinetics --
    headed for the opposite side of the base.
    "Zen! Path from the east entrance to the lift is clear!" everyone
    heard her say, and her voice was positively deadly. "Get everyone to the lift
    area! Now! MOVE!!"
    Zen didn't bother asking how she knew that, merely swung around
    and gave his orders. "All right, you heard the lady! Everybody head for the
    east door, groups of two, and be ready for anything! Move it out!!"
    "Where are you going?" Himiko called as Zen promptly ran in
    another direction, toward the north side of the base, where Lyudmila had
    gone.
    "Backup!" he answered. Lyudmila did, after all, need backup,
    whether she wanted it or not.
    Zen rounded the east wing of the building in time to see another
    explosion light up the two-story alcove at the north end of the base, blowing
    its roof to smithereens and, to the accompaniment of more squeaks and
    splattering sounds, reducing the enemy count even further. He could see
    Lyudmila floating above him, in the gloom. She spun to the left and sent
    another Disruptor shrieking through the water. It exploded against a western
    guard tower, blowing a Tentaculat there into a million tiny pieces of brain
    tissue. Then she turned to the northeast, and saw Zen below her.
    One more at the northeast tower, Zen. Aquatoid, her voice growled
    in his head.
    Right, I'm on it, Zen replied as he caught the red glow of Aquatoid
    eyes in the dark shadows of the northeast guard tower. He crouched and
    aimed his sonic cannon; the blast shot from the muzzle of his weapon and
    flew straight and true, taking a large chunk out of the thing's brain. And that
    was the end of it, Zen could tell: the alien presence on the ocean floor was
    gone.
    Zen turned back to Lyudmila as she settled down to the ocean floor.
    Again he thought he briefly saw a red glow in her eyes, and tried not to think
    about it. "That's all of them, Zen. Let's get moving."
    "Right," he answered, and the two of them backtracked toward the
    east entrance. "Himiko, status?"
    "Lift area's crystal clear, just like Lyu said," came the answer. "Lots
    of spare ammo in here, too."
    "Good. Spread it around and save some for Lyu and me. We're
    coming in."
    "Everybody report in," Zen called as the disorientation of being
    transported into the colony proper passed. There were six markers plus the
    Coelecanth's on the lift platform they had arrived at. That left two troopers
    unaccounted for, and a quick check showed that it was Dujardin and a rookie
    named Cheveaux who were missing, either on another lift platform or
    deposited somewhere else in the base. The transport mechanism
    occasionally did that for some reason, maybe because it wasn't totally
    compatible with humans. "Dujardin, Cheveaux, where are you?"
    "One level below you by my HUD, sir," came the reply. "Cheveaux
    is right next to me. We're in a large room with a small opening in the center
    floor."
    "Excellent!" All of the alien colonies were composed of several
    basic types of modules. The exact arrangement was different from base to
    base but the components were always essentially the same. This particular
    module was quite familiar to Zen. "Dujardin, you're directly above the
    control center for the base. Drop a Pulser into that hole and then find a lift
    that'll get you back to our location."
    "Yes, sir!" Dujardin replied. This was clearly a lucky day.
    "All right, that takes care of that," Zen said, mirroring Himiko's grin.
    "Looks like we're getting out of here faster than we-- where's Lyu??"
    The flash and blast of a Disruptor in a nearby room, followed by the
    howl of a dying Lobsterman, answered that question for him. The hell is
    she *doing*?! Zen growled to himself as he motioned for the others to
    follow him.
    Ten to one it had something to do with that scream he'd heard
    topside, and he tried once again to not think about that glow he'd seen in
    Lyudmila's eyes.
    Elemental?
    Stefanie, tell me where you are, Lyudmila thought as she jumped
    through the wreckage she'd just created with her DPL and found a lift unit
    which dropped her down to the next level. I've come to get you out of
    here.
    I... I don't know for sure... Steffie's voice echoed strangely in her
    head, but it was her; Lyu'd known it was her from the moment the cry for help
    had rung in her head. How... how do you know my name? Who are you?
    I'm... a friend of your grandfather's. My name's Lyudmila, Lyu
    answered as she crossed another small room lined with ion displacers and
    entered a larger module with an enclosed area in its center. She found the
    doorway to the enclosed part and headed for it. Call me Lyu.
    Watch out behind you!!
    Lyu spun in time to see a Lobsterman bearing down on her at high
    speed, too close for her to shoot it with her DPL. She leaped to one side as
    the thing swiped at her with one of its big pincers and backpedaled away,
    trying to find her MCD and realizing that she did not have it anymore; she'd
    left it on the roof of the Triton. Idiot! she berated herself. The creature
    began advancing toward her, hefting a weapon which looked like a large
    version of the Thermic Lances currently being produced at Atlantia,
    obviously a heavy version of said weapon. This was not very good at all.
    Then it stopped, and looked from side to side, seemingly examining
    its surroundings, and then dropped the weapon and just stood there looking
    at her, not doing anything.
    Steffie? You in there now? she guessed.
    Yes! she answered excitedly. I can control them!! Evidently
    this was big news to her.
    Can you make it lead me to you?
    Yes! Yes I can! The Lobsterman spun and started running.
    Please get me out of here! Hurry!
    Lyudmila hurried after the creature as it headed towards the large
    door which she had been intending to approach before, pausing only
    momentarily to pick up the weapon the beast had dropped. She didn't know
    how it worked but she could at least use it as a simple stabbing tool. The
    door opened and Lyu followed the alien into the chamber, a room full of
    neatly arranged human-sized capsules, with what looked like examination
    tables scattered among them. An examination room.
    As the Lobsterman led her towards the capsule in the exact center of
    the room, Lyu began to get a bad feeling; actually she'd had a bad feeling
    ever since she'd made contact with Steffie, felt the strangeness of her
    thoughts, but now it was getting markedly worse. The examination tables
    did not appear to be designed for conducting experiments on air-breathing
    creatures. She watched as the Lobsterman pressed some keys on the
    capsule's control panel, and then the capsule opened.
    Oh God... Lyudmila thought.
    Zen rounded the corner just in time to see Lyudmila following a
    Lobsterman into an enclosed part of the big room they'd just arrived at.
    "Lyu, what the hell are you *doing*?" he called over the radio but got no
    answer. Then she was gone. "Christ," he growled in annoyance, his speech
    about walking into traps clear in his mind. "Dujardin? What's your status?"
    "Grenade's in the hole and primed," came the answer. "I give it
    another 30 seconds before it blows. We're coming your way."
    "Negative, Dujardin," Zen answered. "Head back to the lift area and
    stay put. We may need to get out of here in a big hurry." The closer he got
    to the big room, the more uneasy he felt. Something was definitely not right.
    "Roger that, sir. What's up?"
    Zen was on the edge of answering when he heard a yell from Himiko
    and was forcibly shoved to one side, crashing to the floor. He saw why a
    moment later as Himiko fired on a Tentaculat which was occupying the space
    he'd been in a moment ago, reducing it to scrap brain tissue. From his new
    position he could see glowing green eyes in openings on the opposite sides
    of the room, and DPL-carrying Lobstermen emerged from those openings a
    moment later. "Take those bastards down!" he ordered, and aimed his
    Sonic Cannon at the closest one. Three more sonic blasts roared over his
    head as he fired his own weapon, two to each bug, and all found their mark,
    toppling the two creatures.
    At that moment the door to the central room opened again and two
    figures came running out. Or more accurately, one came running out and the
    other swam out. The first was obviously Lyu, but the other one made
    everyone who could see stop and stare for a minute, and not because the
    second woman wore no clothing. She was human in appearance except for a
    couple glaring differences: her skin was greenish-blue, and she wore no
    breathing equipment of any kind.
    Zen recognized the profile instantly. He also recognized the
    woman's face. "Oh my god..." he mumbled. It was Stefanie. Or at least,
    whatever was left of her.
    "What the hell is *that*?" someone asked. Zen was too distracted to
    know who had spoken, and he didn't quite have an answer for them anyway.
    As they watched, Lyu hurriedly picked up a Disruptor Bomb from one
    of the Lobstermen they'd just downed, loaded it into her own DPL, and sent it
    flying back into the room. Steffie winced as the explosion blew out parts of
    the wall, as whatever was inside was shredded. Then Lyudmila was running
    toward them and Steffie was close behind, kicking through the water with
    surprising grace. It was then that they noticed her feet looked more like
    Aquatoid flippers, and her hands were webbed as well. "Hold your fire!" Zen
    quickly shouted as he saw someone raising their weapon out of the corner of
    his eye. Steffie saw it too and quickly ducked behind Lyu, fright apparent in
    her eyes (which were completely black orbs, just like those of a Gillman).
    "We have to get out of here *right now*, Zen!" Lyudmila all but
    shouted. "It's a setup!"
    At that moment a dull boom could be heard elsewhere in the base,
    the sound of the Synomium unit in the control center being destroyed by a
    Pulser. The strange lights in the walls flickered and dimmed. Steffie
    suddenly looked around in panic, and her words began reverberating in their
    minds as she spoke: There's still some left! They're waking up! We have
    to hurry!!
    "Shit!!" Lyu cursed and forcibly shoved her way through the group of
    troopers, running like hell back toward the lift area, Steffie kicking after her
    before the soldiers even had a chance to react.
    Zen was fortunate to only suffer a moment's confusion, and in the
    next moment he was giving orders again. "All right, back to the lift, people!!
    We're outta here!!" He ran forward, following Lyu and Steffie as fast as he
    could, and the others fell in behind him.
    Steffie arrived at the lift platform a few seconds before Lyu did, and
    stopped dead in midwater when she saw what was standing there. A
    moment later Lyu arrived, and she also stopped, a curse of "oh *shit*"
    escaping her. It was another former human, with blue skin and black eyes.
    This one was male, and he just stood there, staring at them without
    expression. Near him stood Dujardin, a blank face visible through the blue
    plastic of his helmet. The body of Seaman Cheveaux lay in the corner,
    obviously killed by Dujardin's weapon. Lyu reminded herself to have choice
    words with the spooks if she got out of this alive.
    How can you do this?? Steffie pleaded to the blue-skinned man.
    She heard the sounds of Lyudmila's friends approaching from behind, but at
    that moment two more blue-skinned humanoids, one male and one female,
    entered the room from the other side.
    It is the will of T'Leth, the man answered, and as with Steffie the
    voice seemed to reverberate inside the heads of everyone present.
    Resistance is foolish, child. Surely you realize this. He turned towards
    Lyudmila. Your time among the humans ends here, Elemental. You will
    take your rightful place among the Dreamers now.
    "No way in hell," Lyudmila answered, raising her DPL, fully prepared
    to kill all three of these bastards, including Dujardin if necessary.
    The man's eyes narrowed, and then began to take on a golden glow.
    You *will* join us.
    Lyudmila suddenly balked, and began to sink to her knees as a
    mental assault ten times more powerful than anything she had ever
    experienced struck her. Her weapons fell to the floor, and sweat broke out
    on her forehead almost instantly. And this time Zen could not deny what he
    was seeing: her eyes were definitely glowing bright red.
    "Lyu!!" Himiko cried and aimed her cannon at the man, but before
    she could shoot the alien woman's eyes also began to glow amber, and
    Himiko stopped dead in her tracks, then turned toward the other troopers and
    opened fire. Training and reflexes were the only thing that saved any of
    them. Marcelle lunged forward and tackled Himiko, knocking her weapon
    away, only to be caught in a mental vise grip himself by the same woman.
    He began to raise his own weapon toward his head. Zen turned to try and
    help them but found himself completely unable to move, and he could only
    watch helpless as another of the troopers prepared to fire on him.
    Stop this!! Steffie cried out. A faint golden glow began to form in
    her own eyes as she tried to force the leading male to stop, to control him as
    she had the other aliens. We were all human once! Don't you
    remember??
    The man said nothing, merely deflected her mental attack and cast a
    brief sidelong glance at Dujardin, who immediately turned and fired his
    weapon. The shot caught Steffie in the right shoulder, spraying flesh and
    orange blood into the water. Steffie shrieked and fell to her knees. And then,
    from amid the pain, a primal power began to rise up within her, as her terror
    and anger merged into a pure, animal rage. And in that instant she knew
    what she had to do. Adrenaline nullified the pain as she leaped to her feet,
    her eyes glowing brightly, and she opened her mouth and screamed a
    scream which jarred the brains of everyone who heard.
    **STOP IT!!!**
    It was as if each of the former humans had had a small quantity of
    plastic explosive embedded in their brains, because the heads of all three
    exploded in a spray of blood and bone. Dujardin also jerked violently as if a
    smaller explosion had gone off in his head, and collapsed to the floor along
    with the other bodies. Everyone else was stunned for a few seconds, and
    then the shock passed, and the control was gone. Lyu staggered to her feet
    in time to see Steffie swoon and collapse, and was at her side in an instant.
    "What... what the hell just happened...?" Himiko croaked, totally
    unsure of what to say or do, totally unsure of what it was she'd just seen.
    "I wish I knew," Zen responded.
    Just then klaxons began blaring, and the lighting of the room
    changed to a pulsing dark red. It didn't take a lot of imagination to figure out
    what *that* was. "ON THE LIFT!" Zen roared. "EVERYONE ON THE LIFT!
    MOVE MOVE MOVE!!"
    A brilliant flash of light lit up the ocean depths as the Triton streaked
    away at maximum speed, and the sands of the ocean floor rose up on a
    giant shockwave as the colony and everything in the immediate vicinity was
    reduced to component molecules. The shockwave caught up with the
    submarine and it was shaken savagely, but remained in one piece.
    "That was close," Marcelle breathed, trying to slow his heart rate
    down.
    "No shit," Himiko echoed, trying to steer the sub and failing because
    her hands were shaking. She finally gave up and hit the autopilot button,
    and the Triton proceeded to place itself on a return course to Atlantia. She
    turned back to look at the surviving members of the squad, bedraggled and
    more than a little shaken. Dujardin lay prone on the flooring, a bloody
    bandage covering the right side of his head in about the same place where
    his MC implant had been. Gomez, Broomski, Cheveaux... all dead. She'd
    watched herself almost kill Marcelle, watched Marcelle almost shoot himself
    in the head... she buried her face in her hands. This was too much, just too
    much...
    Zen, like several of the other troopers, leaned against the walls of the
    submarine, only able to watch in silence as Lyudmila, the lower half of her
    face quite damp, quietly dressed the already healing wound on Steffie's
    shoulder. Zen also could feel, much better than the others, a distinct change
    in Lyudmila's mood. She seemed much more at peace now, but still angry.
    Angry for a different reason.
    They will pay for this. They will pay.
    END SIX
    

* * *

END


	9. Aspect 7: Mol Synomia

Mol Synomia 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT SEVEN:: Mol Synomia
    - - -
    TWO WEEKS LATER
    "This is Leviathan Zero-One calling Atlantia control. Come in,
    Atlantia control."
    Dan Rollins, the communications officer, keyed the transmitter.
    "Roger Zero-One, this is Atlantia receiving. Go ahead."
    "We are requesting docking clearance. Authorization Collignon-four-
    zero-niner-Tango. Transmitting clearance codes now."
    Rollins activated the security computers, which accepted the data
    transmission and analyzed it. A moment later the panels all came back with
    green lights. It was legit. "Clearance granted," Rollins said. "Proceed to
    sub pen number 3. Atlantia out."
    Rollins got up and hurried out of the room, pausing only long enough
    to flag down someone to man the equipment while he took care of an
    important matter: the Commander had instructed him to notify her the
    moment this vessel arrived, and that's exactly what he was going to do now.
    Lyudmila leaned against the railing surrounding sub pen number 1,
    staring down at the Manta attack submarine floating there, silently waiting for
    its next chance to venture out and strike down the enemy. The twin
    portholes on its bow stared back at her like two shiny black eyes, and the
    ship itself looked less like a submarine and more like the animal which it
    had been named after. It was not hard at all to imagine that it was watching
    her. Hell, it was not hard to imagine that *anything* was watching her.
    Seemed like everything had eyes nowadays. They were out there. They
    were watching.
    "Commander!" She turned at the sound of Ensign Rollins hurrying
    across the decking, toward her.
    "What is it, Rollins?"
    "The ship from Tsunami's coming in. Wanted to make sure you
    knew."
    Lyudmila's expression darkened a bit. She knew this would happen
    sooner or later. "Thank you, Rollins. Tell Lieutenant Zander to meet me at
    the pen yesterday."
    "Yes ma'am!" Rollins saluted and hurried off. Lyudmila paused for
    one more long, brooding moment, looking down at the Manta as if she
    expected it to answer some unspoken question, then turned and strode in
    the opposite direction, through the hatchways connecting the three sub pens
    to one another. If she'd had more time she would have stopped to look over
    the sub that occupied the second pen, Triton Zero-Four, a faithful transport
    and one of the last remaining pieces of technology in their arsenal which
    could be considered purely human. But time was a luxury she did not have
    now, and she pressed on. Sub pen 3 had once held the old Barracuda; it had
    been returned to its British owners once the Manta had come online.
    Lyudmila had wanted to have the pen sealed off once the Barracuda had
    been dismissed, to improve security, but a direct order from above had kept
    the pen open, "to receive new equipment", as the order had been worded.
    And now the new equipment was coming in, and Lyu wasn't entirely
    certain she was happy about it.
    As she took up a position at the sub pen railing, she could hear rapid
    footsteps from pen 2, and turned to see Zander approaching. "What's going
    on, Lyu?"
    "See for yourself," she said, gesturing toward the bubbling water of
    the sub pen. "We're about to see some of X-Com's biggest secrets, up
    close and personal." A silvery gray shape was moving underneath the
    bubbles, growing closer. Then the object slowly rose halfway out of the
    water. It was about ten meters longer and five meters wider than a Triton,
    and except for the barely discernible outline of a hatch on its port side, there
    were no windows or surface features of any kind.
    "My god," Zander breathed. "Is this what I think it is?"
    "Remember how we used to call the Avenger the ultimate fusion of
    human and alien tech?" Lyudmila replied. "Same thing with this. This is the
    Leviathan. Unlimited depth range, two hardpoints for sonic oscillators,
    carries four tanks and fourteen troopers. The ultimate fusion of our tech and
    the bugs' tech."
    This last sentence was spoken with a bitter undertone to it, barely
    noticeable except by those who were sensitive to others' thoughts and
    feelings. What's wrong, Lyu?
    Keep watching, she answered, then finished verbally. "There's
    more."
    The Leviathan eased up to the docking causeway and its hatch
    opened. As Zen watched, four strange dark gray objects floated out, making
    the now familiar humming noise of an ion displacer. They raised up into the
    air and cruised over the submarine at a leisurely pace, continuing southward
    until they were no longer above water, and settled down on the decking in a
    neat line, not far from Lyu and Zen.
    "They call these things Displacers," Lyudmila said, gesturing toward
    the closest one. "Armor's twice as strong as the old tanks, turrets can fire
    either sonic beams or Pulse Wave Torpedoes, and so far they've got the
    only displacer unit that works out of the water. Perfect hovertank," she
    almost snorted, and Zen was beginning to understand her disquietude now,
    for these SWS designs did not look particularly human at all. Nor, for that
    matter, did the Leviathan.
    And finally, personnel began to troop out of the vessel, some wearing
    the latest personal armor, the same armor that Lyudmila had worn on their
    last colony assault. "`Magnetic Ion Armor' is the full name for the suits,"
    Lyudmila said. "About the only thing they can't do is fly out of water." Zen
    could not help noticing that the troops wearing the armor looked rather like
    yellow turtles, the brown displacer backpacks forming the shells.
    So what's the problem? he thought. He knew the answer already,
    but Lyudmila needed to think through this.
    It's *too* alien, Lyudmila groused in his mind.
    People said the same thing about the Firestorms and the
    hovertanks back in the first war, Lyu.
    Maybe so, Zen. But the hovertanks still looked like *we'd* built
    them. Same with the Firestorms. Sure they were flying saucers, but when
    you put them alongside the real UFOs it was obvious *we* put them together.
    This stuff? This all looks like the bugs just up and *gave* it to us.
    Zen thought about that. There was a lot of sense in what she was
    thinking, because these tanks and ships did indeed look a lot more alien.
    Still, others had had these kind of thoughts about the Firestorms and even
    the Avengers during the first war... Well, think of it this way, Lyu, he
    finally offered. If the bugs actually did give this to us... then it's their
    funeral.
    Silence for a moment, and then Lyudmila did loosen up a bit, a small
    chuckle escaping her. Good point.
    While this conversation had been going on, a total of eight troopers
    had emerged from the submarine, along with one white-coated man
    (obviously a scientist) and half a dozen more engineers, all carrying crates
    bristling with munitions. The presence of the single scientist was a little
    bothersome to Lyudmila, but her mind was diverted as the soldiers lined up
    in front of the Displacers, and the unit leader stepped forward and saluted
    sharply. He bore the rank of an Ensign.
    "Troop transfers from Tsunami reporting for duty, Commander," he
    said, crisp and even. Lyu could tell immediately that he was a loyal soldier,
    no ulterior motivation. She liked him.
    "Welcome to Atlantia, Ensign..."
    "Escobar, ma'am," he answered. "Danni Escobar."
    Lyudmila returned the salute, nodding, then glanced behind him at
    the assembled troops. "As I recall, I only requested four troops and one
    Displacer from Tsunami. Why all the extra equipment?"
    "Direct orders from Captain Collignon, ma'am," the trooper answered.
    "The Captain wants field testing for the Leviathan to take place here. Enemy
    activity in the Pacific theater has decreased; the Captain says the Leviathan
    will be put to best use here. Also, most of my troops are in need of field
    experience; they can expect to get that more quickly in this theater."
    Lyudmila nodded quietly. It seemed reasonable enough, and this
    fellow certainly was not lying. Nevertheless, something seemed wrong
    about the whole thing. "Who are the other personnel, Ensign?" she went on,
    gesturing toward the scientist and engineers.
    "The engineers will be providing technical rundowns on the new
    Heavy Thermic Lances. And the scientist--"
    "Dr. Yuri Korsakov," said the man before Danni could finish. He
    spoke with only a light Russian accent, and with an almost unnatural calm
    and self-assurance. Lyu wondered what part of the world he'd actually been
    educated in. If there was something wrong with all this, according to Lyu's
    instincts it had something to do with this man, and her instincts had yet to be
    proven wrong. "I've been asked to check on the status of all research
    projects in progress here and offer any assistance I can."
    "I see," Lyu answered, suppressing the mental alarm that had just
    gone off. "As I recall all our research activity was proceeding on schedule at
    last report."
    "I'm sure it is, Commander," Korsakov replied. "Nevertheless the
    Captain wishes to expedite our work wherever possible, and I believe my
    skills will be best applied to the projects here at Atlantia."
    "Very well," Lyudmila answered with a nod and a half smile. She
    turned back to the troopers: "Escobar, I'm sure you and your squad would
    like to settle in and get some rest. I'll show you where everything is.
    Zander, would you tell Dr. Takaya and the others to expect some new
    assistance?" And tell her we're going to silent running on her project
    effective immediately, she added quickly. I'm not taking any chances with
    this bastard.
    Right. "Yes ma'am," Zander saluted, and left.
    He had to wonder how long this secret would last, and what would
    happen if and when Tsunami found out about it.
    It was fairly common knowledge that Motoko Takaya was one of the
    best medical doctors in the entire X-Com organization, sometimes referred to
    by Marcelle as a modern-day Doogie Howser because of her youth and
    prowess. She had supervised the reawakening of the troopers at Icehouse,
    and when that base had no more personnel in need of caring for, she had
    been transferred to Atlantia, where her medical skills were again put to use
    patching up those who had been wounded in the various assaults the
    Commander's squad had undertaken.
    What had been less well known, at least to the general public and
    medical community, was that she also carried a Xenobiology degree under
    her belt. At the time she had been in medical school Xenobiology was
    something of a "nowhere" medical science, mostly theoretical in nature due
    to an obvious lack of resources. She had responded effectively to criticism
    of her choice of study by maintaining that it might be of use; she had always
    had a feeling that any knowledge of xenomorphs, no matter how minimal,
    would come in handy someday. She was quickly proven correct, and the
    chance to apply her knowledge, to work with real aliens, was thrilling. She
    supposed she ought to be terrified by some of the things she had discovered
    in the past year, but she was too busy being both fascinated by those things,
    and annoyed at the fact that so many of the aliens and alien bodies kept
    getting swept away to places unknown before she could make the kind of
    studies she'd wanted to make.
    Then the Commander had come back from an impromptu colony
    assault two weeks ago, taken her aside and introduced her to a woman
    named Stefanie Dreyfus, and all that had changed. Oh, gods, did it change,
    far beyond her wildest dreams. It was difficult to stop thinking about
    everything she'd documented and learned in the last two weeks: all kinds of
    discoveries which could be applied to human medical science. The potential
    for saving hundreds, maybe thousands of lives, was tremendous, and there
    was still so much more to be learned as well...
    "Dr. Takaya?"
    Motoko stopped and turned at the voice. "Lt. Zander," she
    acknowledged. Something about his hurried pace gave her a very bad
    feeling. "What's the matter?"
    "We have a problem, Doctor," he said. "We need to talk to Miss
    Dreyfus right away."
    "Certainly," Motoko nodded. She had suspected from the beginning
    that the top brass at Tsunami had never been notified of Stefanie's presence
    at Atlantia. They would have been swarming all over the base otherwise.
    She was also certain that if they did find out, not only would she never gain
    any more knowledge, but gods knew what might happen to Stefanie. As a
    doctor and an ethical scientist, she could not allow something like that, war
    or no war.
    Dujardin slowly got up from his guard chair and tried to stretch, with
    limited success. One side of his body was still not totally responsive after
    the nerve damage he'd suffered. Therapy had so far gotten him back to a
    halfway ambulatory status, but without a really good power armor that could
    compensate for his lost reflexes, field operations were out of the question.
    He had resigned himself to guard duty assignments from the Commander,
    and what little psionic training he could get from the spooks; they were
    reluctant to have him do anything that might stress his nervous system
    unduly. He respected their logic, but it didn't make this work any less
    annoying.
    "How are you feeling?"
    Of course, there were some things which made it not completely
    annoying, notably the alien -- or maybe `former human' would be more
    appropriate -- currently in the first isolation cylinder, and in fact the only
    individual currently held in Atlantia's containment facility. Her voice came
    through a small vocoder attached to the tank, since she could not speak to
    him through water and the psi-suppression collar around her neck prevented
    her from communicating telepathically.
    "Better," he shrugged, turning to face her. She had a beautiful mane
    of blond hair which floated about her in the water. That was one of the few
    vestiges of her original humanity which remained. "Still having a little
    trouble moving my left arm and leg," he said, the pronounced limp in his gait
    emphasizing the point as he walked over.
    "I wish I could help you," Stefanie sighed, looking downcast. "It's
    partly my fault that this happened to you in the first place. I wish they would
    let me help you. Dr. Takaya thinks I have the power to induce healing as
    well as destruction."
    "You know you have to stay put, Miss Dreyfus," Dujardin answered
    with understanding. "We can't afford to have uncontrolled aliens running
    around the base -- sorry, but that's what we have to treat you as now." He
    looked sheepish. "I'm not even supposed to be talking to you, really."
    "I know," she looked down at her hands, with their sharp claws and
    webbed fingers. Her gaze traveled further down, to the clawed flippers her
    feet had become, and the weight of the psi-suppression collar seemed to
    increase. "I know the Elemental is doing what she feels is right. But, still..."
    Dujardin sighed. His heart went out to this poor girl. Despite what
    had been done to her, she was still very much a human being inside. It was
    a miracle that she was still reasonably sane. Dujardin figured he would
    have gone off the deep end immediately if something like that had happened
    to him. He really wished there was something he could do for her. "Listen,"
    he finally offered in attempt to buoy her spirits. "Someday this'll all be over
    and life'll get back to normal again, huh?" He knew, almost as soon as he'd
    finished saying it, that it was a stupid thing to say, or even suggest. Yeah,
    real good one, Neil, he grumped to himself.
    Stefanie continued to stare at the floor of the tank, even more
    depressed. "Life can never be normal for me anymore." There was silence
    for a minute or two, and then she looked back up at him again. Despite the
    fact that her eyes were only black orbs now, there was still plenty of emotion
    visible there, and a small smile did grace her face. "But thank you for your
    understanding, Ensign Dujardin."
    "Please, call me Neil," he said, his face reddening a little bit.
    At that moment the door lock pinged. Dujardin took the couple steps
    back toward the security monitor, to check who was outside, and verify the
    person's code. Both matched up, and the double doors on the lower level
    unsealed. A moment later Lt. Zander and Dr. Takaya appeared as they made
    their way up the stairs. Dujardin could tell by the looks on their faces that
    something was wrong. Steffie could sense it too.
    "Doctor, how long can she be out of the water?" Zander asked
    Takaya.
    "I wouldn't keep her out for more than a couple hours at a time,"
    Takaya replied. "The gills in her neck need to be kept moist, and the same
    goes for her skin. Her physiology is primarily Gillman, with some Aquatoid
    traits; neither race was intended to spend long periods of time away from
    water."
    "What is going on?" Steffie asked them.
    "Let's just say that the Commander is concerned for your safety,
    Miss Dreyfus," Zander replied. "We're moving you to another part of the
    base."
    Takaya pressed a button on the containment vessel's console and
    the water began to drain out. "I suggest we use my quarters," she offered.
    "They're fairly secure and I have a bathtub." As the drain cycle finished, the
    containment cylinder began to raise up. Steffie hunched over for a moment,
    expelling the last traces of seawater from her lungs and then taking in a long
    breath of air, and then gingerly stepped down to the deck with an assist from
    Takaya.
    "All right," Zander nodded. "But make sure you know where your
    keys are at all times. Dujardin, I want you to escort Dr. Takaya and Miss
    Dreyfus to the Doctor's quarters. I'm going to make sure nobody else sees
    this transfer."
    Steffie wondered who and what might be threatening them, and
    wished she wasn't wearing that blasted collar so she could see for herself.
    "Can't you tell me what the problem is, Lieutenant?" she asked. "Maybe I
    can help."
    "That's not an option, Miss Dreyfus," Zander answered. "I'm sorry,
    but please do as we say."
    Steffie sighed and bowed her head in acknowledgement. There was
    nothing she could do but trust in the Elemental. She'd taken a few steps
    toward the stairs when she abruptly froze, and began looking around.
    "What's going on?" asked Dujardin, who noticed that Zander had
    also come to a halt.
    "Do you feel that?" Steffie asked quietly. The question was directed
    at no one in particular, but Zander answered it.
    "I... think I do..." he replied, and he didn't like it.
    "You seem to be in a bit of a hurry, Commander. Is there some
    problem?"
    Lyu allowed herself a small mental curse. Zen's departure had of
    course not gone unnoticed by Korsakov, despite the veneer of innocence
    she'd tried to cover it with. She could tell he was suspicious now, and
    focusing on her as a result. Damn. Perhaps he had some psionic skills of
    his own, although if he did he was extremely good at concealing that fact.
    "No problem at all, Dr. Korsakov," she lied. "Escobar, go ahead and
    get your people settled, and we'll arrange a briefing for the HTL weapons
    later."
    "Yes ma'am."
    "I believe it's important to point out," Korsakov went on
    conversationally as Lyudmila flipped through a Stores manifest, making
    sure everything from the Leviathan was accounted for. "That the funding
    governments and corporations are very concerned about the progress of the
    X-Com project, and the Captain shares their concern very much."
    "Are you implying something, Doctor?" Lyudmila glanced at him,
    annoyed.
    "I'm implying that it would be bad for the project if the Captain were
    not aware of everything going on within the organization. X-Com needs
    every bit of knowledge it can acquire if we're going to fight these aliens. You
    do understand that, I trust."
    "Are you implying that I'm withholding information from Command?"
    Lyudmila replied, not bothering to conceal her anger this time. "I don't like
    people who dispute my integrity as a soldier."
    "No, no, not at all," he answered, waving his hands in a dismissive
    gesture, but his voice told a slightly different story. "I'm sure you have the
    interests of humanity at the top of your agenda. I'm merely voicing a
    concern."
    And with that he walked away. Lyudmila watched him go. All her
    senses told her that the top brass knew, or at least strongly suspected, that
    something was out of sorts here, and they'd sent this fellow to either confirm
    or deny that suspicion. She'd taken as many precautions as she could;
    hopefully Zen and Dr. Takaya had found a safe hiding place for Steffie. She
    was *not* going to let anything happen to Steffie again. With any luck,
    Korsakov would see what Lyudmila wanted him to see--
    That was when the strange, unsettling tingling sensation began,
    derailing her thought train very quickly. It felt like something was reaching
    out and surrounding her, probing every cell of her nervous system. It felt
    like dozens of tiny needles dancing up and down her spine, and she did not
    like it one bit.
    Then the alarms went off.
    "What've we got?" Lyudmila demanded as she barged into the
    control room, with Escobar and Korsakov not far behind. In the middle of the
    Mediterranean Sea, a purple cross had appeared to mark the Alien activity.
    "Shipping lane under attack?"
    "Doesn't look like it, ma'am," Rollins answered as his hands flew
    over the control boards. "There's no ships in that area and no sign of any
    distress calls... But our listening post at Gibraltar just reported a massive
    increase in Molecular Control Net transmissions, both in frequency and
    power. Our MolNet sensors here are reporting an increase too!"
    "A communications array?" Danni wondered aloud, glancing at
    Lyudmila.
    "Sounds like it," Lyudmila nodded. "Feels like it too. Probably a
    high-powered Synomium transceiver. Damn, that could be a coordinating
    site for the entire Eastern Hemisphere if we're feeling it all the way out
    here."
    "What's the situation?" Zen called as he bounded into the room with
    Marcelle and Himiko not far behind.
    "Far as we can tell they've activated a communications array for the
    MolNet," Lyu answered. "Real strong one too. Marcelle, Escobar, get
    everyone who's able and get them and the Displacers into the Leviathan.
    Sonic Cannons and DPLs by qualification ratings. We have to shut that thing
    down ASAP."
    "Yes ma'am!" Marcelle and Escobar saluted, and Lyudmila and Zen
    followed them as they hurried out the door.
    Did you find a secure place? Lyu thought in Zen's direction.
    Yeah. Dujardin volunteered to guard both of them but I think you
    should hang back.
    I can't stay here. This mission will take everything we've got, if the
    power I'm feeling is any indication.
    Somebody has to, Lyu. We can't risk not leaving some kind of
    garrison behind.
    Lyudmila thought hard.
    ONE HOUR LATER
    MEDITERRANEAN SEA
    In broad daylight the blue pyramids on the ocean floor did not blend
    in with the white sands at all. At night they probably would have been
    considerably harder to spot. Lyu was glad they were in daylight, because
    the prickly sensation in her spine told her they were going to need every
    advantage they could get.
    "Damn," Zen remarked as he steered the Leviathan downward. "No
    good landing spots except right in the middle."
    "Try and get us as much space as you can," Lyu said. Several of the
    pyramids, were obviously open and had windows and doorways from which
    snipers could either shoot or spot for the psi-attackers, which Lyu knew had
    to be here in force. One of the largest pyramids near the southwestern edge
    of the site had an extension on one side, making it look a bit like a hangar.
    Lyu guessed that might be the way in. "Armor check!" she ordered, and a
    chorus of affirmatives came back as the troopers verified that their armor
    was sealed and ready. Most of the ranked officers were in Magnetic Ion
    Armor; Escobar and his people were in the standard Ion Armor. "Flood bay."
    "Flooding now," Marcelle called, and the hold began to fill with water.
    The Leviathan settled to the ocean floor, kicking up a small cloud of sand
    which settled almost immediately. The clicking of power clips and Disruptor
    Bombs being loaded into Sonic Cannons and DPLs was muted by the rising
    water a moment later. "Down and flooded," Marcelle reported.
    "Okay people," Lyudmila said. "I want everyone out and under cover
    ASAP. Groups of two, pair high-psis with low-psis in case they try to zap us.
    Watch out for movement in the upper windows and don't bunch up! We have
    to secure every single one of these pyramids before we go anywhere. Got
    me?"
    Another chorus of affirmatives. Lyudmila nodded to Marcelle, who hit
    the release pad, and the Leviathan's side door snapped open. "Tank One,"
    he ordered. "Get onto the roof and do an area sweep." The Displacer
    obediently floated forward, the hum of its displacement unit echoing through
    the water. It was starting to rise upward when a clanging sound was heard,
    and the troopers closest to the hatch were treated to the sight of a Tentaculat
    pecking violently at the tank.
    "Daniels!" Escobar snapped. "Knife that son of a bitch!" The rookie
    immediately jumped out, perhaps a bit overenthusiastically, and stabbed at
    the monster with the Heavy Thermic Lance he'd also been carrying. The
    Tentaculat, totally preoccupied by the Displacer, was unable to defend itself
    and sagged to the ocean floor in a spray of blood and brain tissue. The
    snarl of a Sonic Cannon rang out and Daniels quickly ducked to avoid an
    enemy blast, backpedaling into the Leviathan.
    "Damn!" Lyudmila growled; the bugs were ready for them, as she'd
    expected. "Tank Two out! Target hostiles and fire at will!" The second
    Displacer rolled out and promptly came under fire as a sonic blast glanced
    off its right side, denting the armor. The tank rotated its turret and snapped
    off a shot of its own. Through her HUD Lyudmila saw the shot impact with a
    Tasoth, who collapsed with a squeak. Two more bug markers flashed as
    Displacer One reached the roof of the Leviathan and scanned the immediate
    area, finding an Aquatoid with a stunner and another Tasoth, this one armed
    with a DPL. Quickly determining the greater threat, the Displacer sighted
    and fired on the Tasoth. The shot staggered the creature but it did not fall,
    and it aimed its weapon at the tank and fired. Fortunately, its aim was bad,
    and the lethal torpedo sailed harmlessly past and out of the battle zone.
    "That was close," Zen remarked, observing the action through his
    own HUD.
    "Too close," Lyu answered. "Alright, all squads out! Escobar, take
    the little pyramid on the left! Marcelle, your people are Near Squad! I'm with
    Far Squad; we're heading for the southwest pyramid! Tank Three, cover Far
    Squad!"
    As the third Displacer floated out and up, scanning the area, the
    troopers charged out of the submarine. Another shot rang out as Displacer
    One achieved another firing solution on the Tasoth, killing it this time. Then
    it went after the Aquatoid. The creature panicked and tried to shoot the tank
    with its stunner, but of course that was ineffective, and a moment later the
    tank's next blast had disemboweled the monster. Marcelle spotted another
    Tasoth coming around the corner of one of the far pyramids and reported it to
    Zen, who grabbed his MCD and snared the monster, ordering it to turn
    around and scan the area. The Tasoth found a Tentaculat and another
    Tasoth standing nearby and was able to kill the former before being shot
    itself. Marcelle took aim at the latter and blew its head off with a well-placed
    sonic blast.
    Meanwhile Displacer Two rolled up to another of the small pyramids
    with Escobar and a rookie named Amy Linden. They were almost there when
    Linden caught a flash of movement behind her and spun to see another
    Tentaculat charging down from an opening above, straight at her, too fast for
    her to react. But instead of attacking her, it turned and began pecking at the
    Displacer right next to her. Not one to pass up a gift, Linden activated her
    Thermic Lance and knifed the monster, spraying brain tissue about.
    "Commander?" Amy keyed her comm. "Looks like the Tentaculats
    are attracted to shiny stuff; they keep going after the Displacers."
    "Roger that," Lyudmila answered as she and the rest of Far Squad
    edged up along the base of the big pyramid. She winced for one brief instant
    as a psi-attacker tried to force its way into her head and was promptly
    repelled. "Watch it, people, they're starting the psi attacks! Tank Three,
    move ahead of us and find an entry point!" Displacer Three obediently
    glided forward with Lyu right behind. A shot rang out from one of the nearby
    mid-size pyramids, grazing the tank, which almost contemptuously swiveled
    its turret and fired upward, catching the Aquatoid at the sniper's post full in
    the face and knocking it out of sight.
    While the tank was occupied with this business Lyudmila turned the
    corner of the big pyramid and found herself looking into a large open area
    which contained a glowing transport platform: definitely the way in.
    Unfortunately there were two Tasoths and a Tentaculat there also, the former
    of which opened fire. Lyudmila threw herself out of the way, ducking behind
    the Displacer. In the next minute the Tentaculat came roaring out of the
    structure, but as Linden had reported earlier, it was attracted to the shiny
    armor of the Displacer. Lyu quickly unslung her MCD from her backpack and
    focused her thoughts on the Tentaculat. The animal immediately stopped
    pecking and just floated there, waiting for instructions. Good, very good.
    "GAAH! KILL IT! KILL IT!!" somebody shouted through the comm
    channel. There was a sound of sonic weapons fire. Then the same voice:
    "GAAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!!"
    "What the hell's going on?!" Zen called, relieving Lyudmila of having
    to say it herself.
    "Sorry about that, Commander," Marcelle's annoyed (yet also
    amused) voice came through. "One of the rookies got up close and personal
    with a Hallucinoid. He'll be okay after we clean him off. Pretty wild ride."
    Zen rolled his eyes and kept his comments to himself. Lyu, for her part,
    wished she could have seen it. "Pyramids on the northwest edge are
    secured," Marcelle continued.
    "East side is secure," Escobar reported a minute later. "Ready to
    move in."
    "Good," Lyu ackhowledged. "Get down here and keep your eyes
    peeled for snipers." Now the Tentaculat spun around and went barreling
    back into the hangar. The Tasoths immediately fired on it and it went down,
    but in so doing they forgot all about the humans and their tank, who were
    also charging in. Several shots and alien squeaks later, the hangar was
    clear.
    "All units, entryway is secure," Zander reported. "Proceed to our
    location immediately."
    "Looks like it split us up again," Zander observed as he made a
    quick head count and found only seven troopers and one Displacer on the
    dimly glowing lift platform they'd arrived at. "All units, report in!" A series of
    acknowledgements came back, and Lyudmila was able to determine that the
    other seven troopers and two tanks had arrived on a lift platform several
    dozen meters away, probably on the opposite edge of the site. Two more
    things she noticed were that the prickling sensation from the Synomium unit
    was diminished here, probably because they were inside, and the lighting:
    either it was much darker in here, or the glowing blue-white discs which
    represented internal lift platforms were brighter. Probably both.
    "Regroup," Lyudmila ordered. "All units with me are Squad One, all
    units on the second lift are Squad Two. Fan out and we'll rendezvous at the
    center. Report anything that looks like it might be a control center. Out."
    She turned to the Displacer, which had identified itself as number two. "Onto
    the lift. Group of four onto the pads after the tank, then the other three. I'm
    with the first group."
    The substructure had a total of four levels to it. The lifts all offered
    no exits of any kind on the top three levels. Lyu guessed the control center
    was on the highest level, meaning they'd have to work their way back up.
    And the farther down they went, the more uneasy they all got. The tension
    proved to be justified, for as Displacer Two eased down onto the bottom
    level it immediately was hit hard by a sonic blast. It shot back and struck
    the offending Tasoth, killing it instantly.
    "Damn," Zen growled as the tank floated unsteadily out of the lift and
    he descended to the bottom level with the rest of his group, reading the
    damage report from the Displacer. The Tasoth's shot had been well placed,
    punching through the armor and wreaking havoc on the tank's power
    systems. It was still mobile and able to fire, but it probably wouldn't
    withstand another hit like that one. "Wouldn't trust this thing to last too long,
    Lyu," he said. "Another hit and it'll be gone."
    Lyu nodded, studying her HUD for a moment. "Right. Tank Two,
    head southwest and sweep the corridors there for any hostiles. Everybody
    else fan out and head east."
    "Bug left!" Linden called, crouching down and aiming at another
    Tasoth with her weapon.
    "Wait," Lyudmila interjected, holding her MCD up. "I've got it." Sure
    enough, the Tasoth stopped and looked around. Lyu had it take a couple
    steps west and was rewarded with several more bug markers flaring on her
    HUD. "Three Tentaculats and another Tasoth... shit, we've got a town
    meeting up there! Zen, send `em a present."
    "With pleasure," Zander nodded, programming a set of waypoints
    into his DPL. The glowing red bomb screamed out of his launcher, turning
    around several corners and disappearing. A moment later a flash lit up the
    northwest corner of the base and the immensely satisfying sound of several
    bugs dying all at once could be heard.
    "Nngh!" Linden suddenly buckled and fell to her knees.
    "Shit! Psi-attack!" Zander warned. Suddenly another of the rookie
    troopers dropped his weapons and bolted forward into the dark corridors
    ahead. "*Davies*!" Zen hollered, but it didn't do any good. "Fuck. Find that
    attacker, people!"
    "I'm on him!" Linden said angrily, as an Aquatoid popped out of a
    doorway they hadn't noticed earlier and glared at her with burning red eyes.
    Linden yelled and opened up with her weapon, spraying sonic blasts around,
    one of which caught the bug in the leg and knocked it down. It reached out
    with its mind to try and get more effective control of Linden, but another
    rookie by the name of Dan Cook took aim and finished the thing off.
    "Eat that, you little shit," he growled.
    "Nice shot, Cook," Zen complimented him. "Sorry, Lyu, I thought that
    was a wall there."
    "So did I," Lyu answered. "All units: be aware that totally black walls
    with glowing light-strips under them are doors. Proceed with caution. Out.
    Linden, you got your head back on straight now?"
    "Yeah," Linden replied, shaking her head to clear out the last traces
    of alien cotton.
    "Good, go find Davies. Tonida, you're with Linden. Zen, you and
    Richards head north and make sure we don't get jumped from behind. Cook,
    you're with me, we're headed for the center."
    "Man, this place gives me the creeps," Cook remarked as he and
    Lyudmila edged along the wall toward another corridor. The entire place was
    illuminated by low-powered flourescent strips in the lower parts of the walls,
    which cast a dim and decidedly eerie half-light over everything.
    "You think this is bad," Lyudmila replied. "You should see what
    their colonies look like."
    "I dunno, ma'am, I've seen the camera footage..." He peeked
    cautiously around another corner and, spotting nothing, waved Lyu forward.
    "And I dunno why, but... I think this place scares me more than the colonies
    do."
    "Try not to talk about getting scared, soldier," Lyudmila said, even
    as she was starting to agree with him for reasons she couldn't quite define
    either. She wondered if it had anything to do with the Synomium unit's
    power. Everything seemed to get a little darker, more foreboding. She
    shook her head to get rid of the feeling.
    "Sorry ma'am," Cook replied, taking a few more cautious steps
    forward. The narrow corridor they were in was about to open out into
    something larger. "Guess I'm still not used to this stuff."
    "I didn't expect you to be. But get that way soon, understood?"
    "Yes ma'am," he answered. The corridor had come to and end and
    Lyudmila could see that it opened into a rather large room, which looked like
    it might have a vaulted ceiling. Cook glanced past the edge of the wall, and
    kept glancing. "Goddamn..."
    "What is it, Cook?" Lyu asked. Then she turned the corner and saw
    it herself. "What the..."
    The room was indeed very large and spacious, with a large column in
    its center leading into the ceiling. Stairs on its south side led into the
    interior, and the ceiling ended at the third level. Part of Lyu's mind guessed
    that this was the control tower, and the Synomium unit directly above them.
    The other part of her mind was noticing the metal piping surrounding
    the tower. "Brass pipes?" she wondered aloud. Surely they weren't
    actually made of brass, but they sure as hell looked like they were. She
    keyed her comm. "All units report... have you been seeing what looks like
    brass pipes anywhere?"
    Marcelle's voice came to her ears, along with the sound of gunfire in
    the background. "I'll do you one better, Commander: how about what looks
    like a bunch of old-style ship boilers? Check Escobar's cam."
    Lyudmila brought up Escobar's view on her HUD. He was in the
    middle of a large room in which more rows of the pipes were clearly visible,
    but also visible were large oblong structures which did indeed look like old-
    style steamship boilers. As Escobar turned and bent down to salvage some
    ordnance from a dead Aquatoid, his camera offered a closer view of the wall,
    with its glowing flourescent lights and its metal paneling. And abruptly she
    understood why this place was far more disturbing than any alien colony:
    The colonies, at least, looked alien.
    "Damn..." Lyudmila said as she looked around uneasily at her
    surroundings. "*We* could have built this."
    The words of the Cydonian Brain kept ringing in her head.
    You cannot kill us. You are part of us...
    "COMMANDER! WATCH IT!!" Cook suddenly hollered and shoved
    Lyudmila back into the corridor. Lyudmila regained her senses just in time
    to see Tentaculats bearing down on them, the closest one starting to wrap its
    paralyzing tentacles around Cook's right leg.
    "No you *don't*!" Lyudmila snarled, seizing her MCD. Her vision
    reddened, and the Tentaculat froze, releasing Cook. Turn! she hissed in a
    frightening voice. ATTACK! The creature promptly spun and began
    pecking at the one behind it. Blood and brain tissue flew everywhere, and
    the hostile brain sagged to the floor.
    As the carnage dissipated and the seawater became clear again,
    Lyudmila and Cook could see the figures of Zen and Richards at a
    passageway in the northwest corner of the room. Zen took aim at something
    at the other side of the room and fired, then edged inside, staying close to
    the north wall. Checking her HUD, Lyudmila saw that several troopers were
    closing on the room.
    She also noticed that Cook's marker was flickering. "Cook! You all
    right?!" she knelt down beside him.
    "Rrrgh... don't think so, ma'am." He clutched at his right leg, where a
    greenish ichor was visible on his armored leg. Oh hell. "Fucker tagged
    me."
    "Jesus Christ!" Escobar shouted from across the room. "We've got
    at least six more Tentaculats coming at us from above! Pull back!"
    *Six* Tentaculats? Lyudmila thought, and immediately realized
    they must be the guard dogs for this tower. Good plan on the part of the
    bugs. She quickly scanned her HUD again, and noticed a possible opening.
    "Tank Three! Move into the room and raise up to second level. Sight and
    fire at will! Everybody else get ready to shoot!"
    Escobar and another trooper moved out of the way as the Displacer
    rolled past and floated up. Immediately three Tentaculats converged on it,
    while another one continued to attack Zander and Richards. Zen put an end
    to his attacker's threat. Meanwhile Escobar and Marcelle, at different
    entrances to the room, began ducking in and sniping at the Displacer's
    tormentors. At another entrance Davies, apparently recovered, charged in,
    heaved a Pulser up toward one of the ledges Lyudmila saw lining the upper
    levels of the room, and the resulting explosion blew another Tentaculat into
    nonexistence. Seeing an opportunity, she gave her orders.
    "Zen! Linden! Marcelle! Run for the control tower now, while they're
    distracted. I'm with you! Tank One, move in and cover our rear! Hang
    tough, Cook," she added to the fallen trooper before making a run for the
    tower. The Tentaculats remained distracted by the shiny Displacer (which
    was taking a bit of a beating now but also giving as good as it got), and the
    four troopers made it to the lift without incident. The control tower had
    another 4-unit lift in it, and said lift was being used by a Hallucinoid which
    rose up from some lower chamber to attack them. Linden shoved her
    Thermic Lance deep into the creature's body and it splattered into a slimy
    mess on the flooring. "All right, we're in!" Lyudmila said triumphantly as
    Displacer One floated into the entrance, effectively blocking it. "Tank, cover
    this exit and wait for further orders. Okay, go up together and watch out for
    any last-minute surprises, people!"
    The four troopers ascended the lift as one. There was a small
    anteroom in the third level with contained a couple panicked Aquatoids, but
    Zen and Linden fixed that problem, and soon the four troopers found
    themselves in a much better lit chamber on the top level of the complex.
    "Is this it?" Linden asked, looking around.
    "See that?" Lyudmila responded, pointing toward the western wall.
    Right in front of said wall sat a squat round device, reddish brown in color.
    Multicolored lights danced along its base, and above it two shiny metal rings
    rotated about each other in defiance of gravity. "That's the Synomium unit.
    All the power in this place comes from there."
    Lyudmila and Zen stepped forward as Linden and Marcelle checked
    the back of the chamber for any hiding bugs. As they got closer to the
    Synomium unit, they could feel the power emanating from it.
    Damn, Lyu... Zander thought. This one's at least ten times more
    powerful than all the others... it's getting hard to *think* around this thing.
    Yeah... Lyu answered. She seemed to be straining even more
    against the invisible psionic current this device was churning out. She
    unhooked a Pulser from her belt and primed it, reaching out to drop the
    grenade inside the slowly revolving rings. The roar of the psi-waves was
    almost deafening, and she almost lost her balance and had to lean against
    the machine for support...
    And suddenly she went stiff as a board, eyes wide open and glowing
    brightly. "Lyu?!--NNGH!" Zen started to shout but was overwhelmed by
    something powerful and collapsed to his knees, his own vision turning bright
    red.
    "Command has a right to *know*!!"
    "This cannot be!"
    IT IS WHAT IS AND WHAT SHALL BE.
    Stop this! Elemental, save me! I must not go with him!!!
    "Damn you, K'Tulu! STOP THIS!!"
    YOU AND YOUR PRECIOUS DREAMER SHALL BE *MINE*,
    ELEMENTAL!!!
    *NO*!! ELEMENTAL!! HELP ME!!!
    "NOOOOOO!!!"
    For one moment, something incredibly black and horrible flashed
    through the minds of Linden, Marcelle, and every other human being within a
    3000 kilometer radius of the battle. And then, just as quickly, it was gone.
    Lyudmila shrieked as she was thrown backwards from the Synomium
    device. The grenade clattered to the floor directly in front of the device and
    began beeping, armed and active.
    "ZEN! LYU!" Marcelle shouted as he and Linden rushed over to
    them. By the time they'd gotten there Zen was halfway to his feet and
    pulling Lyudmila away from the device, clear of the grenade's blast radius.
    "What the hell *was* that?" Linden asked, not hiding her mild panic.
    "I don't know..." Zen panted. And he wasn't sure he wanted to either,
    but...
    Lyudmila suddenly jerked awake again, visibly panting inside her
    armor. "Lyu!" Zen cried. "What happened??"
    "shit... oh shit..." Lyudmila wheezed, and looked straight at Zen.
    "Did you see it?"
    "I saw it," he answered. And he really wished he hadn't.
    "We have to get back to Atlantia *right now*," Lyu said as she
    scrambled to her feet. "We have to hurry!!!"
    Lyudmila raced toward the lift at an impossibly high speed.
    "EVERYBODY BACK TO THE LEVIATHAN!" she barked. "FORGET THE
    SALVAGE! WE'RE BUGGING OUT AND I MEAN NOW!!" Having little other
    choice, Zen glanced back to make sure the Pulser's timer was indeed
    working and then raced for the lift with the others.
    Approximately one minute later, the Pulser exploded, obliterating the
    Synomium unit. Had it been nighttime in that part of the world, the flash of
    an underwater explosion five minutes later would have been visible. As it
    was there was no one to see the explosion.
    Although several thousand people in Europe who'd abruptly become
    empaths and telepaths for the last few hours lost that ability again just as
    quickly.
    45 MINUTES LATER
    ATLANTIA BASE
    The Leviathan nosed up to the deck a little too rapidly, and the deck
    hand who was securing the ship was nearly bowled over as Lyudmila and
    Zen all but exploded out of the submarine. They were joined in their run by
    Himiko, who looked mad as hell. The base was a flurry of activity, all of
    which Lyu and Zen ignored and hurried past, and they only really heard part
    of what Himiko was ranting about: something about the Manta and the
    Leviathan (when it got back) being recalled to Tsunami. Lyudmila didn't
    really hear any of this. There was only one place on her mind right now.
    The door was open a crack and Lyudmila didn't even bother
    knocking, slamming the door bodily aside and charging into Takaya's
    quarters. Zen and Himiko were right behind her.
    "Jesus..." Himiko said when she saw.
    Takaya and Dujardin lay on the floor, out cold.
    The bathroom was empty.
    There was dead silence for a long long time, and then Lyudmila sank
    to her knees. "Damn..." she moaned. "We're too late..."
    END SEVEN
    

* * *

END


	10. Aspect 8: Base Treachery

Base Treachery 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT EIGHT:: Base Treachery
    - - -
    Steffie finally began to come back to consciousness, but it was not an
    easy task. There seemed to be a dark haze over her awareness, making it
    difficult to think straight. She could tell she was underwater again, and the
    smooth vertical surface she was lying against suggested she was back in
    the containment capsule--
    Suddenly she jerked back to full awareness, her black eyes opening
    wide. Her hands were shackled behind her back, but she managed to get to
    her feet and look around frantically. She saw almost immediately that this
    was not the containment facility she had become familiar with in the past
    weeks. It was larger, more complex... and several of the other containment
    vessels held occupants as well.
    Where had she been taken?? The last thing she remembered was
    that scientist barging into Dr. Takaya's bathroom with a stunner, and then
    oblivion. Where was this place? Had the Elemental been trying to prevent
    her being taken here? If so, what danger was she in now?? She still felt that
    odd haze in her senses, almost as if cotton had been stuffed into her head
    and muted everything slightly.
    She took a better look at the occupants of the other capsules she
    could see from where she was. There were several creatures to be found
    here. She recognized the giant form of a Hallucinoid floating indifferently in
    one tank, its innards giving off a gentle phosphorescence, as always. It was
    a beautiful animal; she could not help noticing that. The Xarquids -- giant
    chambered Nautiluses -- were too, in their own way. In another tank was the
    unmistakable form of a Tentaculat, moving back and forth within its cylinder
    as if it were pacing. Steffie shuddered at the sight; those monsters made her
    very nervous. There was also one male Gillman here, who seemed to be
    looking back at her with interest, and a little curiosity.
    What really captured her attention, though, were the cylinders which
    contained beings like her.
    She could see at least three, one male and two females. All were
    shackled as she was, and unclothed. Steffie quickly looked down at herself
    and saw, with considerable relief, that she still wore the bathing suit she had
    been provided with on arrival at Atlantia. She noted also that all three were
    bald; it was most noticeable in the male, who seemed to have no body hair
    of any kind. Steffie had discovered early on that she no longer had hair
    under her arms or in her pubic region; why she still had her head hair was a
    bit of a mystery, though, especially after seeing these others. Perhaps she
    had escaped before that could happen to her? (But what about the others in
    the colony who'd also had hair?)
    They all seemed to be just sitting there, staring straight ahead with
    mostly blank expressions, their gills closing and flaring in a regular
    breathing pattern. All wore psi-suppression collars, just as Steffie did. She
    had to wonder who they were, who they had been before they had suffered
    this fate.
    "Hello? Can you hear me?" she called. She didn't know if the
    vocoders on these tanks would work, but she had to try and contact them.
    Almost as soon as she'd done that she saw movement, and turned to
    see the Gillman gesturing at her. He held a webbed finger to his mouth in a
    gesture any human would recognize, and then pointed at something behind
    Steffie. Steffie followed his pointing finger to a security camera mounted on
    the upper corner of the wall, slowly sweeping back and forth. She turned
    back to the Gillman and nodded her comprehension.
    The Gillman appeared to say something then, using exaggerated
    mouth movements. Steffie watched closely, and she was fairly certain he
    had said "You still have free will, Dreamer?" (The way he cocked his head
    to one side indicated it was a question.)
    Steffie looked down at herself again, then back at the Gillman.
    `Dreamer' was the name she had been called by the aliens several times.
    She supposed it must be her race name. Her memories told her that it was --
    the ones the aliens had implanted, that is. Answering his question required
    only a simple nod.
    At this, the Gillman seemed surprised and his mouth actually formed
    a smile. "We must talk--" he started to gesture, then glanced at something
    behind Steffie and immediately stopped moving. Steffie turned to see the
    door to the facility opening, and a group of people strode in. Half were in X-
    Com duty uniforms, the other half in white lab coats. The apparent leader --
    for the stance of all the others was obviously subordinate to him -- was a
    youngish man with blond hair and an officious air about him which Steffie
    instantly disliked. She also recognized among the scientists the bastard
    who'd stunned her, and that helped to mute some of her fear, turning it into
    anger at the sight of him. If she could just get these damned cuffs and collar
    off...
    "Ah, good," the leader intoned. "You're awake. Welcome to
    Tsunami, Miss Dreyfus. I am Robert Collignon, Captain of X-Com."
    "Why have you brought me here?" Stefanie asked acidly, the faintest
    hint of gold light illuminating her dark eyes for one moment. She was further
    irritated by the scientists' excited chittering amongst themselves, and their
    gawking at her like she was some sort of lab animal. She'd stopped being a
    lab animal when the Elemental had set her free, and by damn she was not
    going to go through that again if she could help it.
    "Patience," Collignon intoned calmly. "Soon the rest of the players
    will have arrived, and then everything will be made clear."
    Steffie didn't like the sound of that at all.
    Nor, for that matter, did the Gillman behind her, as his cowl knit in
    consternation, although Steffie had no way of knowing or feeling that.
    "Captain," one of the officers held a hand to his head for a moment.
    "Leviathan Zero-One is approaching."
    Collignon smiled a small smile. "Excellent."
    TWO HOURS EARLIER
    X-COM AQUATIC BASE "ATLANTIA", NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
    Himiko Nagano was not a woman given to worrying about the combat
    or command fitness of her fellow troopers. Usually it was the other way
    around, since she was the well-known loose cannon of their little group. But
    today Lyu and Zen were definitely not themselves. Lyu in particular,
    because she was acting crazy again. Everybody had gotten a little edgier
    ever since that raid on the alien communications site, because of that black
    flash they'd all felt for a second, but now both Lyu and Zen had a tightly
    controlled fear in their eyes. Himiko found herself both wanting and not
    wanting to know what they had seen in the Mediterranean.
    To add to the mess, the scientist from Tsunami had left the base,
    taking with him the Manta, and the prisoner Lyu had directly ordered full
    protection for, and Himiko hadn't even found out about it until the order to
    transfer the Manta and Leviathan back to Tsunami -- along with transfer
    orders for several high-ranking troopers including herself -- had come in. By
    then the Manta was already leaving. All while Himiko had been in acting
    command of the base. How something like *that* could go completely
    unnoticed by anyone was beyond her, but it had. She would have been
    mortally embarrassed if she weren't so busy being scared of what was
    happening to Lyu, who seemed to be bordering on full-blown hysteria now.
    "I'm coming with you, dammit!" Zen almost shouted as he kept up
    with the fast-moving Lyudmila, who was now headed back toward the
    Leviathan, still in her armor.
    "No!" Lyudmila shouted back. "You'll be putting the base at risk
    unnecessarily!"
    "Like you're not?! You are *not* going there alone, *Commander*,"
    Zen practically spat the words. "We have to stick together, you need backup
    and that submarine has plenty of room!"
    "Zen, I need you *here*," Lyudmila grated. "You've seen it! You
    know what's going to happen!"
    "Yeah, I've seen it and I see you walking right into their goddamned
    *trap*!!"
    "Guys! GUYS!!" Himiko hollered. "Listen to yourselves!!!" To hell
    with military protocol. She really wasn't sure she wanted to know what `it'
    was. But she *was* sure she didn't want this kind of bickering going on
    where everyone on the base, particularly the rookies, could hear. The
    shouting had already attracted the attention of too many people.
    "I don't know what you saw down there," Himiko went on, trying to
    keep her voice calmer than she felt. "I don't *care* what you're talking about
    right now. But I do know one thing: X-Com needs soldiers more than it needs
    heroes!"
    Lyudmila and Zander had no reply for a moment. How many times
    had they said those exact same words to an overambitious rookie?
    After a long silence, Zen spoke quietly. "She's right, Lyu. We gotta
    get a plan."
    "I have to go to Tsunami," Lyudmila went on, calmer but still
    insistent. "They've taken Stefanie there, and if Collignon is doing what I
    think he's doing, we're in serious trouble. We need to prep for a possible
    evacuation and garrison our troops for defense, and they need a leader.
    Sorry, Himiko," she added when the latter looked downward.
    "No, you're right," Himiko sighed, her earlier embarrassment
    creeping back in. "Gun in my hand, bugs shooting at me, *that* I can handle.
    But I can't run a base." She looked up. "Let me go with you, Lyu. They
    want me at Tsunami anyway."
    "Fine," Lyu sighed, then looked thoughtful. "I never did find out; who
    all got transfer orders?"
    Himiko counted on her fingers. "Me, you, Zen, Marcelle, Dujardin...
    Escobar got called back... the tanks and a lot of heavy equipment got called
    back too... wait a minute, except for Ensign Ramirez that leaves only Able
    Seamen and rookies on the duty roster here!" The full significance of the
    orders was creeping in. "And no psis either! What's he *doing*? If this
    place gets attacked--"
    "I'm starting to think that's what he *wants*," Lyudmila said darkly,
    rubbing her chin. The more familiar cool and calculating side of Lyudmila
    had re-emerged, much to Himiko's relief, but her eyes told of a hundred fears
    and emotions which were warring for her attention.
    "So what do we do, Lyu?" Zen asked at length.
    Lyu thought some more, then turned to Himiko. "Get me the
    manifests for Stores."
    LEVIATHAN ZERO-ONE
    ON APPROACH TO TSUNAMI
    "You okay, Marcelle?" Himiko asked, noticing that Marcelle had
    started rubbing his temples.
    "Dunno," Marcelle answered. "I feel like somebody stuffed a bunch
    of cotton in my head. Gets worse as we get closer to the base."
    "Must be a Mind Shield," Himiko said.
    "Different from the old ones, though..." remarked Lyudmila from the
    controls of the Leviathan, in a less than positive tone. "It's a lot more
    powerful... more effective." The other crew members weren't sure what to
    make of it. But they all knew that, at this point, they should be ready for
    anything.
    "Leviathan Zero-One," Lyudmila keyed the comm, transmitting the
    usual security codes. "Requesting docking clearance, authenticating now."
    The comm speaker crackled and a voice, flat and almost
    emotionless, could be heard. "Leviathan Zero-One, codes accepted.
    Proceed to sub pen two. Tsunami out."
    "Sheesh," Marcelle remarked once the connection was cut. "Have
    some Valium, why don't you? Guy sounds like Mr. Spock."
    "I didn't like the sound of that," Himiko remarked.
    "Neither did I," Escobar replied. "I'd really like to know what the
    hell's going on."
    The ocean doors slowly slid open, and the sleek submarine glided
    through, into the base. It took only a moment for the submarine to position
    itself and rise up, halfway out of the water. Mooring cables were quickly
    attached and the sub powered down, secured.
    "All right, people," Lyudmila turned to the troopers and spoke quietly.
    "Form up and file out, keep quiet, and whatever you do, *act natural*. I don't
    like what I'm feeling."
    The Leviathan's main hatch hissed open and a gangplank was
    lowered to accommodate the troops. Lyudmila led, followed closely by Zen
    and Escobar, then Himiko and Marcelle, with Dujardin (who was still limping
    but his armor hid that fact quite well) bringing up the rear. They filed out
    quietly, although a few quick glances at their surroundings were spared.
    They found themselves being approached by a small knot of people.
    In the lead was Collignon, followed closely by the scientist Korsakov. Four
    more uniformed troopers with Blasta rifles stood guard over an easily
    recognizable blue-skinned humanoid--
    "Elemental!", Steffie cried and started to walk forward but was
    promptly restrained by the guards. A huge wave of anger welled up in
    Lyudmila and nearly crashed down, but she held it in check.
    "Ah, so you *are* familiar with each other," Collignon remarked with a
    smirk. Steffie shrank back, realizing she might have made an error.
    Collignon turned back to Lyudmila, his tone becoming a bit icy.
    "Withholding of information concerning high-ranking aliens is a serious
    crime, Commander Mannski. In another time and place this would merit
    serious disciplinary action, however I'm willing to overlook it this time,
    provided you follow my orders better than you have been."
    "What's going on, sir?" Lyudmila almost demanded. This whole
    thing got more rotten with each passing minute.
    "You will find out shortly, Commander," he answered. "That is why
    you and your troopers have been brought here..." He paused, looking over
    the line of troopers. "Where is Lieutenant Zander?"
    "He was injured on a mission earlier today," Lyudmila lied. "I felt it
    prudent to leave him at Atlantia where he could receive full medical attention.
    Moving him would have been counterproductive."
    The Captain said nothing for a moment, then sighed. "Very well, I
    suppose we'll be able to manage. Come, I'm sure you're wondering what
    this is all about, and there are quite a few things you need to know."
    With that, he turned around and the others followed him back into the
    inner reaches of the base, the minds of the troopers from Atlantia now full of
    questions, questions which Lyudmila suspected she already knew the
    answers to, but she had to be certain...
    The personnel present in the command center took more than a few
    troopers by total surprise. In addition to the five human troopers, all sitting
    immobile like Secret Service agents and bearing the insignia of psi-troopers,
    there were three blue-skinned humanoids like Steffie, all clad in what looked
    like X-Com wetsuits. Escobar was sufficiently taken aback by the sight to
    voice his thoughts: "What the hell is this, Captain?? Where did these...
    things... come from and what are they doing in our uniforms??"
    "Patience, Lieutenant," Collignon replied calmly. "I know most of
    you aren't afforded the precognitive power of your Commander and so don't
    have as much of an advantage." Several involuntary glances were sent in
    Lyudmila's direction. Lyudmila, for her part, kept her gaze fixed on the
    Captain. "But all will be made clear in due course. Isn't that true,
    `Elemental'?"
    Lyudmila did her best not to glare, instead replying evenly: "What
    exactly *is* going on here, sir? I really would like to know."
    Collignon smiled a private smile. "Commander, soldiers," he turned
    to each of the small group in turn. "I would like to introduce to you the future
    of X-Com, and to the weapons which will turn this war back in our favor." He
    gestured toward the seated human troopers, who got to their feet and met
    Lyudmila's gaze evenly. "I would like to introduce Lieutenant Christel
    Hafner, Ensign Carl Spanburg, Ensign James Estavez, Lieutenant Greg
    Ayliffe, and Able Seaman Sylvie Bouton. They are the `Elementals'."
    Lyudmila arched an eyebrow. So did several of the other troopers
    behind her, and Steffie as well, who had been seated next to the other
    humanoids.
    "Like yourselves," Collignon went on, speaking mostly to Lyudmila
    now. "These troopers have demonstrated a very high psionic potential --
    they are all rated at P-9 or higher -- as well as high physical strength and
    stamina. We have invested a considerable amount of time and money into
    their training, and it has proven worthwhile." He turned to the psi-troopers
    and nodded. Lieutenant Hafner nodded in response and turned to face the
    humanoids.
    Stand, she said, calmly and quietly, her voice reverberating with
    psionic amplification. The three blue-skinned humanoids abruptly got to
    their feet, standing straight up and looking impassively across the table at
    the psi-troopers. Steffie, for her part, winced and seemed to be resisting an
    invisible hand trying to pull her out of her own chair, a faint golden glow
    creeping into her eyes.
    Stand! Hafner repeated more forcefully, a faint red glow creeping
    into her own eyes. Steffie started to get shakily to her feet, her breathing
    coming in shallow gasps.
    Enough! Lyudmila snapped angrily, her own voice tipped with
    psionic energy for a moment. Collignon nodded to Hafner, who immediately
    relented, and Steffie fell back into her chair, her gills flaring, panting like a
    fish deprived of water.
    "As you can see," Collignon said with a smirk which Lyudmila fought
    a brief urge to punch off his face. "These troopers are quite capable of
    controlling anything the aliens currently have to throw at us, including these
    Dreamers."
    "`Dreamers', sir?" Escobar asked. There were several things he'd
    obviously been kept in the dark about during his training and tour at
    Tsunami. Why hadn't he seen or noticed any of these people before now?
    "Yes, Lieutenant," the Captain replied. "That is the name the aliens
    have given them. These creatures are apparently the aliens' vision of the
    ideal species for this planet. They *are* quite hardy creatures, capable of
    surviving on both land and in water. Of course, all the ones we've been able
    to capture have proven to be mindless slaves..." He looked directly at
    Steffie. "Except for one, for whatever reason. It would appear that this will
    be the fate of all humans unless some action is taken quickly. It's hard to
    say how much longer we have before the colony vessel resurfaces."
    "What colony vessel?" Marcelle asked.
    "Ah yes," Collignon said. "I suppose I should start at the beginning;
    much of this data has been kept highly classified.
    "Some 65 million years ago, the then dominant life forms on our
    planet began to die out. We always thought this was because of a large
    meteor, or perhaps a comet. It was neither: it was a crashed alien colony
    vessel named T'Leth."
    Steffie was heard to inhale a little more sharply. Collignon paused to
    allow the lesser troopers to mumble among themselves. When the group
    quieted down again he continued: "The aliens tried to colonize this planet 65
    million years ago, but a freak accident -- a massive solar flare according to
    the Lobstermen we've detained -- caused the navigation systems of the
    vessel to fail, and it crashed into the Yucatan, sinking into what would
    become the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the life on the planet was wiped out in
    the nuclear winter that followed, and the Gillmen -- who were the dominant
    sentient race at the time, for those of you who didn't know -- were forced into
    symbiotic relationship with the new arrivals; before long most of them were
    mindlessly loyal, just more components of the shared mind like our blue-
    skinned friends here."
    "Shared mind..." Marcelle said. "A central brain, just like last time?"
    "Not exactly," the Captain replied. "In the first war the controlling
    entity was just a low-level cyborg brain, not particularly efficient or
    intelligent, but capable of managing a small recovery and harvesting
    taskforce. What we're facing now, however, makes the Cydonian Brain look
    like a child's toy computer. At the heart of that city-ship is a colonial
    overmind, a Great Dreamer, which is connected to every single alien on this
    planet."
    "If this thing is connected to every alien, then how do we know
    *these* aliens aren't under its control right now?" Escobar asked, gesturing
    at Steffie and the other humanoids.
    "Two reasons, Lieutenant," the Captain answered. "First of all, psi-
    waves and energy emissions from the Molecular Control Net cannot enter or
    exit the area surrounding this base, thanks to our Negative MC Generator."
    "I was wondering why I felt like I had cotton stuffed in my head,"
    Lyudmila remarked.
    "And secondly," Collignon went on. "The Great Dreamer is not in
    actual control yet. It isn't alive."
    "I don't understand, sir."
    "The thing is not alive," Collignon explained. "But it is not dead
    either. It's in a sort of suspended animation, connected to the outside world
    peripherally, through the MolNet... and through the dreams of the psi-aware.
    Have any of you ever read H.P. Lovecraft?"
    There was a brief moment of non-comprehension, and then it dawned
    on several people.
    "`That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even
    death may die.'" Marcelle said, paling.
    "Holy shit," Himiko said. "You're not serious, are you sir?"
    "The Gillman word for Dreamer is `Tulu', Lieutenant Nagano," the
    Captain went on, deadly serious. "To say `Great Dreamer' in their language,
    you add a `K' emphasis. What does that make?"
    "K'Tulu," Lyudmila nodded quietly. It was all so clear. She turned to
    her uneasy squadmates. "Looks like Lovecraft was more right than he
    knew."
    "We have to get to T'Leth," Collignon said. "And destroy K'Tulu
    before he has a chance to awaken. Because if he does... then this planet
    *will* belong to the aliens."
    "Sir," said the unemotional voice of the communications officer.
    "Tracking multiple USO signatures across the globe. Transmission
    Resolvers indicate retaliatory strikes against Atlantia, Vishnu, and El Nino,
    and strike patrols checking other sectors."
    "Any vessels approaching this sector, Owen?" the Captain asked.
    "Negative, sir," Owen replied calmly as Lyudmila crowded over to
    the geoscape map, the mention of Atlantia being under attack having gotten
    her attention very quickly. "The MC Generator is working perfectly."
    As Lyudmila watched, two of the red crosses marking the USOs
    changed to green `X's as the attackers arrived over their destinations --
    Vishnu and El Nino, the small automated, and unprotected, listening posts in
    the South China Sea and South Pacific. There were several blasts of static
    and unidentifiable alien transmissions from the comm systems, and then the
    two blue boxes marking those bases vanished from the map.
    "Vishnu and El Nino have been destroyed, sir," Owen said. "Atlantia
    has been evacuated and is taking heavy fire."
    "We'll have to assume the base will be destroyed," Collignon
    nodded grimly, turning to Lyudmila. "This is why I requested the troops I
    requested, Commander. I suspected something like this might happen."
    "You put our major hardware at my base long enough to attract their
    attention, didn't you sir?" Lyudmila growled quietly.
    "That's right," Collignon replied, unrepentant and looking ready to tag
    her for insubordination. "Commander, I'm sorry about Lieutenant Zander
    and whoever else may have been left at that base, but there's no time to
    mourn the wounded or the weak. We have to move quickly now."
    At this point he turned back to the assembled troopers and raised his
    voice again. "As you may have heard, there's just been a full-scale assault
    launched at several of our bases. They undoubtedly think they've destroyed
    our major strength. They're in for a surprise. If you'll all follow me, we need
    to organize quickly. Hafner, keep an eye on the Dreamers."
    Lieutenant Hafner nodded, and remained in her place as the rest of
    the troopers filed out of the room, leaving the command center occupied only
    by herself, Steffie and the other Dreamers, and Owen.
    Owen sat, still quiet and impassive, monitoring the new flurry of USO
    activity on the geoscape, allowing the surviving Transmission Resolvers to
    work on deciphering the various transmissions which were now racing
    through the conduits of the MolNet at a much higher speed. Only when he
    was quite certain the room was vacant, except for those who had been
    ordered to stay, did he listen more closely to the strongest of the
    transmissions coming over the MolNet.
    A'k sl'hafn, k'lat'sk. Sl'hafn a'k'wakh. A'k sl'hafn, k'lat'sk. Sl'hafn
    a'k'wakh.
    Sleepers hear, and answer. Sleepers awaken.
    Owen keyed several commands into the comm system, which
    obediently followed his orders, opening a low-band communication channel
    and sending out a carrier wave to a predefined location. An answerback was
    not long in coming, and new data began to filter in, being assimilated by the
    geoscape computers, which obediently began to update the maps. The data
    connection ended a moment later and was replaced by a voice.
    A'kl'hash, sl'hafn. N'lha jiad'nak tr'sta.
    Acknowledged, Sleeper. Show the path.
    For the first time, Owen's mouth twisted into a dark grin. He turned to
    another console and toggled a set of switches to their OFF positions.
    Christel Hafner abruptly became aware of an odd presence behind
    her, which she hadn't noticed before, and turned toward the communications
    station, where it seemed to be coming from.
    The last thing she heard was the sound of several psi-suppression
    collars shorting out all at once.
    "Suppression collars or not, is it wise to leave one guard over
    them?" Lyudmila asked as she loaded a case of Pulsers into the Leviathan.
    There was a lot of ordnance still to be loaded onto the submarine, and
    Lyudmila was beginning to feel a bit anxious, as though time were growing
    very short.
    "Lieutenant Hafner is quite capable of controlling all of those
    Dreamers with minimal effort, as are all the Elementals, including yourself,
    Commander," Collignon answered, checking another item off a list. "They
    are helpless without a connection to the overmind, just like all the other
    aliens."
    "And on that note, how exactly are we supposed to destroy this
    thing? As I recall, the legends talk about this creature being indestructible."
    "Once he's awake, yes. What we need to do is destroy his
    connections to his army before he has a chance to wake up; there are eight
    major power conduits connecting his crypt to the power systems of T'Leth
    and to the MolNet; if we can eliminate those, T'Leth will be destroyed and
    take K'Tulu with it, and the alien army will fall apart. Simple."
    Lyudmila snorted. "Easier said than..."
    She trailed off into silence then, as a combination of two different
    sensations fell into her mind in a not-quite-harmonious manner. The first
    was a sense of clarity, a loss of the black cotton which had fogged her head
    all the while she was here. The second was a sense of danger, imminent
    danger, and panic. The latter she fought down almost as soon as it popped
    up, but it didn't go away easily, and she realized then that the panic was not
    hers.
    "What's the matter, Commander?" the Captain asked, nonplused at
    her abrupt silence. All of the other psi-troopers were similarly frozen as well
    "The shield..." she said quietly, mostly to herself.
    At about the same time the alarms went off, a scream ripped through
    the mind of every psi-active person in the base: NO!! ELEMENTAL!! HELP
    ME!! Then there was gunfire.
    "STEFFIE!" Lyudmila was running before anyone even had a chance
    to think.
    Almost as soon as Steffie had felt the strange but somehow familiar
    presence she knew there was danger. She was unsure whether to try
    mentioning that fact to the woman seated across from her; Hafner seemed
    unwilling to tolerate any action from her other than staying perfectly still.
    She had done so the whole time, trying to ignore the increasing discomfort
    as her skin and gills continued to dry out. The woman had obviously felt the
    new presence and knew its source, for she had turned in the direction of the
    man named Owen.
    Then all hell had broken loose. The psi-suppression collars of the
    slave Dreamers suddenly sparked and broke apart, along with the hand-
    shackles they all wore. Hafner had gotten halfway to her feet when she
    abruptly jerked and froze in place for a moment. Then one side of her skull
    had exploded outward in a fountain of red, at the same time Owen had pulled
    out a sonic pistol and pumped three shots into her body, killing her instantly.
    Owen's eyes were glowing orange, and his mouth was twisted into an evil
    grin.
    Again, her alien-implanted memories gave her the name of the thing
    she was facing: Sleeper. An infiltrator, equal in power to a Dreamer but
    completely human in appearance. A creature which was designed to blend
    in with the nations of the world and induce them to cooperate with the aliens.
    Or, in this case, to sabotage the humans' efforts to resist.
    Hmph, foolish humans, the Sleeper sneered. Only a few more
    loose ends to deal with. He leveled his weapon at Steffie.
    NO! Steffie shrieked, and bolted out of her chair, very thankful that
    only her hands were shackled, as it made her escape into the outside
    corridor much less difficult. With her powers suppressed by that infernal
    collar she wouldn't stand a chance against that abomination. She had to get
    away. She had to get to the Elemental... to Lyu. ELEMENTAL!! HELP ME!!
    A psionic assault struck Lyudmila violently as she drew near the
    command center, and she just as quickly threw it off with an equally strong
    shield. Gunfire sounded within, and then Lieutenant Ayliffe came stumbling
    through the door, a gaping wound in his side, falling face first onto the
    decking. Behind him, one of the allegedly "safe" Dreamers appeared,
    aiming a sonic pistol toward his head.
    He never got the chance to complete the kill, however, because
    Lyudmila whipped her own sidearm from its holster and pumped three shots
    into the alien's head, spraying bone and brain tissue across the wall.
    Somewhere in the back of her awareness she heard the Captain's voice
    shrieking at her; she ignored it.
    More shooting echoed through the corridors; it sounded like it was
    coming from the general vicinity of the containment facility, if Lyudmila
    remembered the layout of Tsunami correctly. But the mental activity within
    the command center captured a far more important measure of her attention.
    She spun on her heel and lunged through the door, immediately diving for
    cover at the foot of the table as sonic blasts tore through the space which
    had been vacated by her head the moment before. In an instant she
    assessed the situation: the corpses of four human troopers and one
    Dreamer sprawled throughout the room, red and orange blood pooling
    everywhere. Another Dreamer was accounted for in the hallway, as was
    Ayliffe. That left one more Dreamer... and Steffie.
    So much for Collignon's grand plan.
    "COMMANDER!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU--" came the near-
    hysterical screeching of the Captain as he bolted through the door, and then
    stopped dead in stupefied horror at the carnage he saw. From her position
    underneath the table, Lyudmila saw the gunner at the communications
    station -- Owen was his name, she remembered -- stand and chuckle darkly.
    She chanced looking out from her hiding place and saw that he had an evil
    smile to match the laugh.
    "Owen?!?" Collignon gasped in stunned disbelief. "What--"
    "What have I done?" Owen said, chuckling, and his eyes took on an
    orange glow. "Merely my job, that's what. We've known every move you've
    made since the beginning, fools, and now it's time to end this feeble attempt
    at resistance once and for all."
    "TRAITOR!!" Collignon howled in insane fury, bringing his gun to bear
    on the Sleeper. Blasts of sonic energy howled over Lyudmila and sprayed
    Collignon across the wall.
    "I'm not a human, you fool," Owen growled. "Only humans can
    betray." He was turning his gun toward Lyudmila when more shots rang out
    from the doorway and caught him in the chest, spraying orange blood over
    the control consoles. He fell to the floor, his weapon clattering away. Lyu
    glanced back toward the door to see Himiko lowering her Blasta rifle.
    Sensing the threat had passed, Lyu got to her feet and strode toward the
    downed alien.
    "we've already won..." he half-chuckled in a gurgling wheeze, blood
    leaking from his mouth. "surrender now--hhhkk--Elemental... make it eas--
    *kaff*--easy on yourselves..."
    "No thanks," Lyudmila growled, put her pistol to his head, and pulled
    the trigger. The Sleeper twitched violently as the shot rendered his brain
    into so much hamburger, then went limp. Shoving the body away, Lyudmila
    began punching controls on the geoscape console, studying the tactical
    display. Multiple red crosses had appeared, as well as a large number of
    purple boxes identifying enemy bases, at least twenty more than had
    previously been accounted for. The red crosses, for their part, all registered
    as dreadnoughts. And they were all headed for the base. She rotated the
    globe 180 degrees, bringing the Atlantic Ocean into view. Atlantia had
    disappeared from the map. "Shit..."
    "What's our next move, Lyu?" Himiko hurriedly asked as she joined
    her.
    "Get everyone and everything we can cram into the Leviathan,"
    Lyudmila replied tensely, quickly flipping several dozen switches, arming
    the base's defense systems. "The PWTs won't hold off six-plus
    dreadnoughts for long. We've gotta get the hell out of here."
    "Commander!! Get over to Containment--" Escobar was shouting but
    stopped in his tracks at the carnage in the command center. "Good lord,
    what *happened*?!"
    "No time to explain, Escobar," Lyudmila replied, picking up Owen's
    dropped Blasta rifle and slinging it over her shoulder. "We've got about five
    minutes left until the bugs have this base for dinner. Get everything loaded
    into the Leviathan and fast!"
    "Yes ma'am!" Escobar saluted sharply.
    "And what were you saying about Containment?" Lyudmila asked,
    her mind immediately switching back to the problem she'd backgrounded for
    the duration of the fight.
    "There's an alien there who wants to talk to whoever's in charge, I
    guess that's you now, ma'am," Escobar replied, noting the Captain's corpse.
    "He's got Stefanie."
    Lyudmila arched an eyebrow. "Right, I'm on it. Get to work!" she
    snapped, then tore down the corridor toward Containment.
    "Status!"
    "He's right inside," Dujardin answered, his gun aimed at the closed
    hatchway to Containment. "He's got a pistol and he took out the last
    Dreamer but he's got Steffie and I'm not taking any chances." Indeed, as
    Lyudmila looked in the nearby window she could see a Gillman standing
    there with a sonic pistol. He didn't have the gun pointed at Steffie but his
    posture left no doubt he would use it if threatened.
    "I'll take it from here, Dujardin. Get back to the ship!"
    "But what about--"
    "MOVE IT!" Lyudmila snapped. "If I'm not back there in four minutes,
    go on without me! That's an order!"
    "...yes ma'am!" Dujardin hesitated for only the barest instant before
    saluting and hurrying back down the corridor.
    Once he was out of sight, Lyudmila keyed the door intercom, keeping
    her weapons holstered. "I'm alone," she said.
    "She's telling the truth," Steffie's voice crackled dimly over the
    intercom. A moment later the door opened and Lyudmila stepped inside.
    Around her were strewn numerous shattered containment vessels, along
    with the corpses of the aliens which had been held there. She turned to face
    the Gillman, who was apparently sizing Lyudmila up. "It's all right," Steffie
    said, though to whom was unclear.
    "We don't have much time," Lyudmila said quickly. "What do you
    want?"
    "To help you," the Gillman replied in a surprisingly human voice.
    "My name is Rann. I'm sorry for threatening your friend but it was the only
    way to be sure you'd hear me out. My people have been mindless slaves to
    these alien invaders for sixty-five million years. I personally am tired of
    being a slave. This planet belongs to us, not them; let me come with you
    and I'll tell you all I know about them, their strengths and weaknesses,
    everything. I swear this to you." He engaged the safety on his pistol, and
    handed it to Steffie. "I have nothing except my word to convince you..." He
    glanced at Steffie again. "...and perhaps the confidence of a fellow victim."
    Lyudmila looked at Steffie, who nodded back solemnly. She knew
    instinctively that the Gillman was telling the truth; she didn't need Steffie to
    tell her that.
    "Then let's go," she nodded. "We need all the help we can--"
    She was interrupted by the sound of the PWT cannons firing, and the
    base rocked violently as a loud explosion occurred nearby. "Shit! They're
    already here!!" Lyu snapped. "Come on!!" Unslinging her rifle, she charged
    down the corridor toward the sub pens, with Rann and Steffie close behind.
    "Where the hell is the Commander?!" Marcelle shouted as the
    explosions echoed in his ears.
    "Keep loading that sub!!" Himiko hollered back, picking up a Sonic
    Cannon and slamming a new power clip into it. Moments before, the doors
    of the base's primary airlock had exploded outward, and a small horde of
    Aquatoids and Calcinites had swarmed in. Himiko pressed herself against
    the wall of the submarine and primed a Pulser, lobbing it overhead. It
    clattered amid the dispersing group of Aquatoids and blew, scattering them
    across the deck. Unfortunately more Aquatoids swarmed in to take their
    places.
    "Path's blocked!!" Escobar shouted, gunning down a Calcinite which
    had been running toward him. It fell in a spray of green ichor. "No way to
    get past the airlock anymore! The Commander's still down there!"
    "Damn it!" Marcelle growled, shoving one last tub of ordnance into
    the submarine, leaving just barely enough room for the soldiers. "That's it!
    We're loaded!!"
    "Then let's get the hell out of here!!" Escobar responded.
    "Not fucking yet!!" Dujardin yelled back.
    "Damn it, Dujardin! You heard what the Commander--"
    Escobar's angry retort was abruptly cut off as gunfire from the
    opposite side of the airlock cut down several Aquatoids. The remaining
    Aquatoids suddenly froze, and then turned their weapons on each other.
    Alien screams filled the sub pen for several seconds, silenced when another
    Pulser clattered into the midst of the battle group and blew them all to
    kingdom come.
    "Hold your fire!" Himiko shouted as three shapes emerged from the
    conflagration. In the lead was Lyudmila, followed closely by Stefanie, and a
    Gillman. The three charged at full speed towards the submarine as more
    explosions rocked the base.
    "EVERYBODY IN THE SUB!!" Lyudmila roared, her eyes glowing a
    dull red. "THE GILLMAN'S WITH US! LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF
    HERE!!!"
    The troopers all crammed themselves into the Leviathan, and
    Lyudmila slammed the hatch shut. Lyudmila flew to the controls and
    powered the sub up. It tore free from its moorings and quickly sank into the
    water, which reverberated with explosions and the sound of weapons being
    fired. The ocean doors opened in the next second, and as soon as they
    were navigable Lyudmila punched the throttle wide open.
    The Leviathan shot out of the opening like a bullet, screaming
    through the waters towards the surface and relative safety. One of the closer
    alien dreadnoughts spied the submarine and turned to pursue.
    "Shit! Bandit on our six!" Himiko snapped. "He's got a lock on us!"
    "Not for long..." growled a voice behind them. The troopers, and
    Rann, turned to see an angry look on Steffie's face, her eyes glowing yellow.
    Go away!
    Sure enough, the dreadnought suddenly slowed down and began to
    change course. Unfortunately for the alien vessel, this made it a very easy
    target for the base's PWT cannons. As the troopers watched, two torpedoes
    slammed into the vessel and blew it into a thousand fragments.
    Then a series of explosions rocked the waters, and sonic beams
    punched through Tsunami's outer hull and compromised its interior. Within
    seconds the power generators had been swamped by water and shorted out,
    all remaining systems within the base going offline. In its last seconds of
    life, the computer keyed emergency self-destruct charges placed throughout
    the base. Flashes of white and yellow lit up the water for several moments
    before the remains of Tsunami Base were obscured by a wall of bubbles,
    which the alien vessels sailed through like victorious sharks.
    Stifling the sense of loss which threatened to overwhelm her,
    Lyudmila kept the throttles wide open, angling for the surface. In a matter of
    seconds the submarine broke through the surface of the water and became
    airborne, sailing into the sky. No more alien vessels pursued the Leviathan,
    probably considering it not worth the effort. After all, they had accomplished
    their mission: the human resistance movement was all but crushed.
    In silence, the troopers looked through the rear camera view at the
    ragged halo of bubbles and debris on the ocean surface which marked the
    former location of Tsunami. Nobody dared say a word for several long,
    agonizing moments.
    Finally, Himiko broke the silence. "What do we do now... Captain?"
    she asked quietly.
    Lyudmila looked back at her, then cast her glance back into the body
    of the sub. The troopers all had their eyes on her, as did the newly defected
    Gillman Rann, and Steffie. It took a moment for it to sink in: by default, she
    *was* Captain of X-Com now. Everyone was looking to *her* for direction
    now. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
    Then she turned back to the controls of the submarine, activating the
    comm system. "This is Leviathan Zero-One. Acting Captain Lyudmila
    Mannski, calling any viable X-Com forces from Atlantia or Tsunami, please
    respond."
    Static.
    Lyudmila sent the message again, more forcefully this time.
    "Captain Lyudmila Mannski to any X-Com forces, please respond. Is there
    anyone else left?"
    More static for a moment, and then a crackling sound gave way to a
    familiar voice: "That's affirmative, Zero-One... Triton Zero-Three
    responding."
    "Zen..." Lyudmila heaved a huge sigh of relief. "What's your status,
    Zero-Three?"
    "Atlantia's gone," Zen replied, despondent. "We hoarded everything
    we could, per spec, and got the hell out. They ran right over us, Lyu. Zero-
    Three awaiting orders."
    Lyudmila let out a long, slow breath. It really was all up to her and
    what was left of her command, now. "Proceed to Contingency Site Alpha,"
    she said. "We'll regroup there. Further orders will follow."
    "Roger that, Zero-One," Zen answered. "Proceeding to CS Alpha.
    Zero-Three out."
    Lyudmila cut the connection, then laid in a course for the emergency
    landing site and engaged the autopilot. As the flying sub swung onto its new
    course, she sank back in her chair, the burden of command already
    beginning to weigh on her shoulders.
    The human race might already be out of time.
    END EIGHT
    

* * *

END


	11. Aspect 9: Independence Day

Independence Day 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    ASPECT NINE:: Independence Day
    - - -
    SIGSBEE DEEP, GULF OF MEXICO
    The Abyssal Zones of the Earth's oceans are a world of total
    darkness and crushing pressure, where very few creatures can exist, and
    those that do either create their own light for hunting, or do without
    eyesight altogether. It is a world untouched by human presence, Earth
    science not capable of designing a machine able to withstand the pressure
    of those black depths.
    Now, however, the blackness of the Sigsbee Deep was being broken
    by faint light, light which did not come from the bioluminescent lure of
    any Earth fish. Pairs of glowing green eyes glided through the darkness,
    gathering together. The closely spaced eyes of smaller creatures
    cruised alongside the farther-apart eyes of bigger creatures, forming a
    school of luminescence, pushing inexorably onward. And downward.
    Deep down into the blackness, which, after a time, began to
    become brighter, the waters starting to take on a faint blue glow. The
    glow began to reflect off the approaching school of creatures, revealing
    their yellow aqua-plastic alien nature.
    Silhouetted by the blue glow, which reflected off the ocean
    floor, a giant black shape rested, various colored lights dotting its
    surface. To an observer seeing the black behemoth from its front it
    might look, with its myriad black spiky towers and domed structures, and
    glowing multicolored beacons and causeways, like a giant undersea
    megacity.
    The massive ion thrusters on the rear would put the lie to that.
    The Molecular Control Net was a bustle of activity here, the
    strongest and most clear of the signals emanating from, and returning to,
    this place. Every creature who came here could feel the immense power,
    growing stronger and stronger, calling to the children, to the loyal.
    It was nearly time.
    From the Dreadnaught leading the mighty school of alien
    submarines, a signal beamed through the waters, toward the black city.
    Tulu m'holec ak'then. O'hwen.
    A'kh'lash, answered a stronger, much more powerful signal.
    M'holec t'lats'k stha. The Molecular Control Net abruptly became
    silent as all other communication was halted for a priority transmission.
    %Tsunami% k'klat'chk, %Atlantia% k'klat'chk. N'dat th'kral
    %X-Com% t'kal, a'br %Elemental% a'br Tulu'kt, %Steffie%. Iak'h
    k'latz'hk, g'hala ts'ia t'latz'hk stha.
    P'hak k'latz'hk, O'hwen. A'kl'hash, confidence and
    satisfaction resonated throughout the network, and again all minds
    listened for the message.
    A'k a'kl'hash: *D'HA TZO N'DAT IAK'H ET'NRALA TS'IA KN.*
    *S'TRA T'LATS'K K'LATZ'HK, E'DAT D'HA'LA KN D'HA.* Kh'am'al.
    That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange eons even death may die.
    The waters of the Earth's oceans resounded with the cries of
    approval and anticipation. At long last, it was time.
    Rha tzo, p'hak, the commanding mind rumbled. Kh'am'al.
    A'k.
    A rumbling could be heard and felt throughout the nearby waters
    as the blue glow intensified considerably. A moment later it was
    complemented by a brighter white glow as the thrusters activated for the
    first time in 65 million Earth years.
    T'Leth a'kw'akh. K'Tulu a'kw'akh, the mind boomed loudly.
    %TERRA% SH'N T'LATS'K STHA.
    T'Leth awakens. K'Tulu awakens. AND TERRA SHALL KNOW.
    Blasting a huge cloud of sand and debris up into the waters in
    its wake, the ancient colony vessel T'Leth, the Black City of so many
    legends, rose from its watery grave.
    And at the heart of the ship, the Great Dreamer, K'Tulu, began
    ever so slowly to stir.
    FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER
    SOMEWHERE IN GREENLAND
    The icy cold sea air stung Lyudmila's face as she stared silently out
    at the endless blueness which was the Atlantic Ocean, lost in many
    thoughts, and torn by many feelings. All coming back to the grave danger
    the human race was in now.
    At every sound of the waves lapping against the shoreline her eyes
    darted from one place to another, part of her expecting something to come
    crawling up out of the water at any moment, another part of her knowing this
    was foolish but unable to block the flow of anxiety. If there were any bugs in
    the immediate area, she would know.
    That of course did not change the fact that the enemy lurked
    underneath the waters in vast quantities, and they were all across the globe,
    as the Tsunami geoscape maps had reported in their last moments of
    functionality. The Aliens' plans were some 40 years in the making, and they
    were far more prepared for this day than the humans were. Lyudmila
    wondered if the supreme commander of X-Com, during the First Alien War,
    had felt the same sense of being overwhelmed by the Alien hordes.
    Perhaps, but it hadn't stopped him from succeeding at Cydonia.
    But could she do as well against T'Leth?
    A presence behind her. Human, and powerful, like her. She turned to
    see the familiar and welcome face of Otto Zander coming to join her at the
    coastline.
    "Just got word from the emergency session of the sponsors," Zen
    said as he reached her. The sunlight briefly glinted off the shiny metal of his
    new Commander's rank badge. "The promotions have all been officially
    approved. Congratulations, Captain."
    Lyudmila snorted, a little amazed that the bureaucracy had
    accomplished anything so quickly. Not that it would have mattered. As far
    as the troopers were concerned the bureaucracy could go to hell: Lyudmila
    had become Captain as soon as Collignon's life had ended, and the troopers
    had readily accepted the change of command, believing that if anyone could
    salvage this disastrous happening, it would be the Elemental.
    Fingering her Captain's badge, regarding the angry visage of the
    golden skull set into the middle of the anchor, she could only hope their faith
    in her was not misplaced.
    "What's our status?" she asked tiredly.
    "Good news and bad news," Zen replied. "The good news is, the
    Leviathan is still deep-seaworthy, and we have three Displacers -- two
    sonics and one PWT -- at 100% readiness."
    "And the bad news?"
    "The bad news is, we only have 5 combat-ready troopers. You, me,
    Marcelle, Himiko, and Escobar. Dujardin had a relapse; Takaya says it'll be
    a while before he can walk again. She won't certify Ramirez or Quevedo
    either."
    "Damn."
    "Maybe it's just as well," Zen shrugged, trying to offer some
    consolation. "Those two had low psi ratings, and Dujardin's unstable at
    best; they'd probably be more of a liability in the end."
    "It's still three less bug killers," Lyudmila grumbled. Her options
    had worn thin and a difficult decision was now confronting her. "I don't want
    to go in with any empty space in that submarine."
    "Me neither. But who else do we have that's combat-certified?"
    "I think it's less a question of who's combat-certified and more who's
    combat-capable."
    "Are you sure you want to do that, Lyu?" He knew exactly who Lyu
    was talking about and wasn't particularly sanguine about the idea.
    "I don't think we have much choice, Zen," Lyu said distractedly, her
    attention focused on the growing roar of an approaching aircraft. Zen turned
    to see what looked at first glance like an old UFO approaching their location,
    but it quickly resolved itself into the familiar saucer design of a Firestorm
    interceptor. Farther back, another craft silhouette could be seen on
    approach, and Zen was fairly certain it looked like an Avenger.
    "What do you know," Zen said, almost smiling. "Maybe we do have
    a couple tricks left up our sleeves."
    "Maybe. Come on, let's get moving." Lyudmila turned around and
    walked back toward the tiny, unassuming research station which disguised
    the entrance to the underground base. Zen lingered for a moment to watch
    the Firestorm pass overhead and then followed.
    In the first war, Icehouse Base had been an emergency landing site
    for interceptors and other craft from the North American and European
    combat theatres, and after the war it became a holding tank for X-Com
    personnel who had been frozen. It was never intended to be a full-scale
    operations center for X-Com forces, and this was reflected in its lack of
    facilities: it had only spartan living quarters with minimal climate control for
    only a few people, and what little Stores space there was existed mainly for
    holding cryochambers. (Marcelle referred to the place as "the Rebel base
    on Hoth", garnering him more than a few dirty looks.) There was only one
    hangar, oversized in order to house multiple craft. Currently it held one: the
    Leviathan from Tsunami.
    With a loud mechanical whine, the overhead hangar doors slid open,
    and the engines of the old Avenger sent a thick wave of cold air blasting into
    the base as it settled on its landing struts, angling for the far side of the
    hangar to make room for the much smaller Firestorm, which nestled itself
    between the corvette and the Leviathan. It was a very tight fit, the hangar not
    having been meant for holding more than two craft at any given time, but
    between the skills of the pilots and the ships' onboard computers, they
    managed.
    Lyudmila and Zander arrived at the hangar just as the Avenger was
    powering down. The seal on the rear hatch broke with a hiss of air, and the
    hatchway folded downward, forming a ramp. Lyudmila thought she could
    make out the oscillating green lights of a Displacer within the ship's
    darkened interior, but her attention was focused on the gray-haired woman
    waving at them as she emerged from the craft.
    "Hello Captain, Commander," Deborah said to the two with a hint of a
    smile, saluting. Technically she had been higher on the chain of command
    when Tsunami was destroyed, but had refused promotion to Captain,
    believing Lyudmila to be a better candidate for supreme command of X-Com
    than herself. (Lyu was, after all, far more combat-capable than Deborah
    could hope to be; Deborah almost wished she'd been frozen as well.)
    "I see we still have *some* war materiel left," Zen observed dryly,
    regarding the Avenger and Firestorm.
    "We did keep a small stash of fuel and equipment stowed at Area 51.
    Not even the funding council knew about it, otherwise we'd've lost it too,"
    Deborah nodded. "We also had our main psionic training facilities there... in
    case something happened to Tsunami." Evidently not everyone had agreed
    with Collignon's strategy, and that might well have saved their asses, or at
    least bought them some extra time.
    "Well, what do you have for us, then?" Lyu asked, glancing up at the
    Avenger. "Hopefully something we can actually use underwater."
    "Well..." Deborah turned back toward the Avenger. "Tank: out.
    Forward to my location." The warbly hum of an ion engine could be heard,
    and a Displacer floated out of the corvette, descending to ground level and
    floating up alongside them. It had a PWT launcher for a turret. "We have
    this Displacer, for starters."
    Lyudmila nodded, looking the SWS over; it seemed to be in good
    shape, and its torpedo launcher was fully stocked. "This is good. Our
    offensive power just went up a little." Four Displacers -- two of them with
    heavy weapons -- would help quite a bit, though Lyudmila would still have
    preferred four armed troopers to one armed tank.
    "We also have four troopers who were still in psi-training at the time
    of the strike," Deborah went on as the four soldiers in question filed out of
    the Avenger, formed up and saluted sharply. "Ensign Michael Connors, Able
    Seaman Javier Centeno, Seamen Tracey Marillo and Naomi Nakajima.
    They're all rated at P-10 or higher."
    "Good. The less vulnerable people we have, the better." She
    returned the troopers' salute and addressed them directly. "I want you all to
    keep your armor and equipment on hot standby and ready to go at a
    moment's notice. Are we clear?"
    "Yes ma'am!" Connors replied.
    "Good. Dismissed." Lyu was turning her attention back toward
    Deborah when she noticed the other people emerging from the Avenger. A
    few technicians and scientists, but among them were two rather familiar, and
    aged, faces. "...Claude? Laura?"
    "Hello, Lyu," Claude said quietly.
    "What are you doing here?" Lyudmila pressed, although she already
    had a very good idea why they were here.
    "We know she's here," Laura said anxiously, and then to Lyudmila's
    surprise Laura's voice echoed in her head. We have to see her. Please.
    For a moment Lyu wished there was some way out of this, but she
    knew there wasn't. She knew this would happen sooner or later. Sighing
    heavily, she put a hand on Laura's shoulder. "Come with me. This may be
    unpleasant for you."
    May? she thought to herself. Hell, it *will*...
    "You will find this to be one of the quickest routes to the core of the
    vessel," Rann said, tracing a webbed finger across a two-dimensional map
    he'd created with the assistance of the technical personnel. The human
    techs had at first been a bit wary of working so closely with a Gillman, and
    were also more than a little curious about Steffie. Understandable, of
    course, but Lyudmila had laid down the law in no uncertain terms on these
    matters, and as such Rann had received the assistance he needed, and
    Steffie had been left alone. At the moment they were all clustered around the
    planning table with all the troopers who weren't occupied elsewhere,
    planning strategy. "There are dozens of transporters throughout the vessel
    but these are the three closest to each other and to the core."
    "I don't know about that second level," Escobar remarked warily,
    tracing a path of his own across the map. "It's like a maze. Gonna take a
    long time to wind through that area."
    "Create your own doors, then," Rann answered. "The walls there are
    not particularly strong, and I suspect time is a luxury we don't have... ah,
    water, if you would..."
    "Me too, please..." Steffie chimed in, her gills flaring due to lack of
    moisture. While both their species could breathe air easily enough they
    were still sea-dwellers first, and couldn't go without water for extended
    periods of time.
    Escobar picked up a spray bottle of salt water sitting on the table and
    sprayed a fine mist over Rann's skin. He passed the bottle to Dujardin,
    sitting in a wheelchair next to Steffie, who accepted it and applied the same
    treatment to Steffie. Steffie craned her head back, flaring her gills as widely
    as possible and sighing in audible relief as the oxygen-rich seawater
    washed over them and moistened her own skin.
    It was then that she became aware of the new, and familiar,
    presences drawing nearer... although it was not so much in mind as it was in
    voice: "oh my god..." Opening her eyes and turning to the sound, she saw
    Lyudmila approaching with Commander Zander... and behind them...
    "...Grandma? Grandpa?" she said as she got to her feet, more
    surprised than anything. "How did you get here?"
    They stared back at her. The thoughts they had were protected from
    Steffie's casual senses by the psionic shields they wore, both artificial and
    natural. Their emotions, however, were more easily discerned: fear,
    sadness... a touch of anger, though not directed at her. They came closer.
    Her grandmother reached out a trembling hand to touch her face; she
    seemed to be just barely keeping her feelings in check. Reflexively Steffie
    reached up to cover the hand with her own, suddenly all too conscious of the
    webbing between her now-clawed fingers and the blue color of her own skin.
    Then her grandmother fainted.
    "Grandma!!" Steffie cried, reaching out to catch her at the same time
    as her grandfather. Lyudmila rushed to assist them, and they managed to
    set her down in the chair Steffie had occupied.
    Claude was barely hanging onto his composure as he straightened
    up; he could barely bring himself to look at what had become of his
    granddaughter. "Lyu, I beg you," he pleaded in a hoarse whisper. "Isn't
    there something... *anything*... we can do for her?"
    Lyudmila said nothing, looking toward Rann.
    Rann shook his head slowly. "No, I am sorry," the Gillman said
    evenly. "Only Starspawn science could possibly undo all that has been
    done to Stefanie--"
    "*You're* Starspawn," Claude growled with sudden hostility, glaring
    at the Gillman.
    "No, I am not," Rann replied. "I am native to this planet, as are you.
    And even if I were Starspawn, to undo what has been done here would
    require genetic and surgical knowledge and training which I do not possess,
    and which neither your race nor mine can even begin to comprehend."
    "Damn you," Claude grated. "There must be *something*--"
    "Grandpa..."
    The soft voice, echoing not only in his ears but in his mind, caught
    his attention straightaway, and he found himself looking into the black orbs
    which were Stefanie's eyes. Laura, who was recovering her own sensibility,
    also heard the sound and looked up at her granddaughter. They both felt
    Steffie's presence, dozens of times more powerful than they remembered,
    gently pushing its way into their psyches.
    "Grandpa... Grandma..." Steffie said quietly, reaching out to gently
    touch each of them. "Please don't be sad... it's all right. I... I know I can't go
    back. And... I don't think I would want to anyway."
    "What?? But--" Laura started.
    "Please, please understand, Grandma. In a strange way..." She
    looked down at herself. "...you could say they did me a favor. I can see
    things... feel things... *do* things...I could never have done in my old body.
    It's like cotton was taken out of my head, and everything is so clear now...... I
    want it to stay that way. Please."
    They didn't have to ask, they just knew as they looked at her: despite
    all that had happened, despite everything the aliens had done... this was
    still Stefanie Dreyfus, still their precious granddaughter who loved the water,
    loved the seas, more than anything in life, and had always wanted to be
    closer to the sea. Indeed, were it not for the horrific circumstances
    surrounding the transformation, this could well be considered a dream come
    true for her.
    "Steffie..." Claude choked, and this time he did lose his hold on his
    composure, reaching out to hug her and sobbing quietly.
    Steffie returned the embrace and reached out to soothe his anguish:
    Don't be sad. Please don't be sad. She could feel the emotions welling
    up in her grandmother as well and sent the same messages of reassurance
    to her. Please don't be sad. Perhaps it was meant to be. It was very
    easy for her to do with her new powers, and they were quick to relax under
    her soothing thoughts.
    "It is true," Rann said quietly. "That Stefanie represents the `ideal
    species' which the Starspawn plan to create for this world. Of course... they
    would have only minimal free will..."
    "And neither of *our* species could expect much status above the
    level of laborers and battle thralls," Lyudmila replied. "I for one have no
    interest in being a slave of any kind."
    "Nor do I," Rann said. "Which is why it is so critical that we succeed
    here."
    Lyudmila nodded. "And we will need all the help we can get."
    Steffie disengaged from her grandparents. "Do you want me to go
    with you, Elemental?"
    "Steffie!" Laura blurted. "It's too dangerous!!"
    "Grandma..." Steffie said. "This is our planet -- our oceans -- we're
    talking about. She said they need all the help they can get. I can help
    them."
    "Her ability to control the aliens and protect us *would* be an
    extremely valuable asset," Lyudmila confirmed.
    "They are right, my friends, and I hope that I may call you my
    friends," Rann added. "If these people should fail, it will all be for nothing.
    Civilization as we understand it will cease to exist and neither of our races
    will know freedom ever again."
    Steffie nodded agreement, and all of them knew that she had made
    up her mind about this. "Elemental," she said, turning to Lyudmila.
    "Whatever I can do to help you, please t--"
    That was when the sudden cold jab of black fear hit her, and also hit
    every other esper in the room. Indeed, even the non-espers felt a distinct
    sensation of unease.
    "What is it??" Escobar demanded. "What's going on?!"
    "It has begun..." Steffie whispered.
    THIRTY MINUTES LATER
    Black spikes shot up from the churning waters of the Gulf of Mexico,
    stretching farther and farther into the sky, presently joined by the domes and
    rails, and then the primary hull of T'Leth as it reached the surface, its solar
    arrays activating and beginning to gather energy for the Reawakening.
    Across the world, fleets of dreadnaughts, battleships and cruisers rose out of
    the waters and began to move toward the land, positioning themselves over
    the major cities of the world and awaiting the First Command, which would be
    issued by the Great Dreamer on his awakening, and seal the fate of this
    planet once and for all. Worldwide panic was quick to happen, coaxed into
    being more rapidly by the cold, unnatural fear which every other person had
    experienced from the moment the Black City had awakened: the Ultimate
    Evil, told of in so many legends worldwide, was coming, and they were
    powerless to stop it.
    On all sides of the great colony vessel, USOs burst out of the water
    and took to the skies, taking up guard formations on all sides even as their
    own detection systems began to pick up the signatures of human aircraft
    bearing down on them. The missiles they were equipped with were woefully
    ineffective against all but the smaller USOs, and so most of the guarding
    fleet did not regard the Earth forces with any real measure of concern.
    So it came as quite a shock when several beams of green fire tore
    through the air and blew one of the battleships in half. The Avenger corvette
    and the Firestorm interceptor leading the strikeforce took full advantage of
    the momentary confusion their arrival had spawned to send more plasma
    beams tearing into nearby battleships, sending them spiraling back into the
    ocean in pieces. Meanwhile the conventional aircraft sent their missiles and
    cannon fire streaking toward the smaller vessels, doing their own share of
    damage as the skies around T'Leth quickly became total chaos.
    Meanwhile, a silvery almost-alien vessel sliced through the topmost
    fathoms of the water, its ion displacers wide open, bearing down on the
    Black City. No vessel in the alien fleet even noticed it at first, partly
    because of the troubles up above but also because it didn't show up on their
    scanning devices. Of course it would not remain so anonymous for long:
    from the twin PWT cannons mounted on either side of the hull, the Leviathan
    spat four balls of glowing red death in rapid succession, which tore through
    the water and impacted with the armored hull of the City. The outer armor
    first buckled, and then collapsed completely, as the detonations blew a
    sizable hole in the wall.
    Firing its ion thrusters in a carefully controlled pattern, the ship
    slewed laterally through the water, drag bringing it to a stop right next to the
    hole it had created. As it did this, the portside hatch snapped open and
    another ball of death shot from the muzzle of the PWT Displacer inside,
    shrieking into the interior and touching off another explosion which was
    punctuated by the unearthly screams of Aquatoids.
    "Okay! GO!!"
    At the shout of their commanding officer, the strikeforce disgorged
    through the Leviathan's hatchway and into the opening. The Displacer which
    had fired the PWT went first, followed closely by Marcelle and Himiko. A
    Sonic Displacer followed along with Connors and Nakajima. Behind them
    came Escobar, Zander, Lyudmila, and wearing a suit of Aqua-Plastic Armor
    for better protection, Steffie. (Lyu had wanted to give her a set of Ion Armor
    like all the others wore, but it had proven too restrictive for Steffie, designed
    as it was to keep water out rather than in.) Finally, Centeno and Marillo and
    the remaining two Displacers emerged, bringing up the rear. Having
    accomplished its task, the Leviathan immediately spun and rushed away
    from the City, preparing to engage the still-submerged vessels of the alien
    fleet in combat.
    "Okay people, remember," Lyu said as the group took in their
    surroundings. Those who had been on the raid to the communications fort in
    the Mediterranean recognized the almost-human environment on sight.
    "We've got a lot to do and not much time to do it. Tanks 1 and 3 on advance
    point, 2 and 4 on rear guard. Defensive diamond formation. Steffie, I need
    you to pinpoint the enemy whenever you can and shield us the rest of the
    time."
    "Understood," Steffie nodded, looking ahead, her grip on the Blasta
    rifle she'd been issued tightening a bit. Even though she had never held a
    gun in her life before she carried the rifle with the skill of a trained soldier;
    she had her implanted memories and skills to thank for that. "There are
    three nearby, not moving... they feel like Aquatoids."
    Lyudmila loaded a shell into the DPL she carried, and primed her
    Heavy Thermic Lance. "Right. Everybody be on guard for doors; they're
    easy to miss. The transporter's 100 meters southeast of here according to
    the intel we got. Take out anything that gets in the way, grab any ammo you
    can carry. Move out!"
    As one, the squad began to move forward. They had barely taken a
    few steps when an Aquatoid popped out from a dark corner wielding a DPL.
    It was on the point of firing when it stopped for a moment, confused.
    "I got it!!" Nakajima chirped excitedly from behind her MCD.
    Unfortunately this broke her control over the creature and it began to raise
    its weapon again. Then a sonic blast from Tank 3 separated the creature's
    head from its body and it went down.
    "Keep your focus, soldier!" Connors snapped at his subordinate as
    Marcelle scooped up the ammunition from the downed Aquatoid and stuffed it
    into his rear pack.
    "Lyu," Marcelle called. "Where are the others?"
    Lyudmila turned to Steffie, who concentrated. "Ahead... and to your
    left... about 25 meters... and there are more nearby, coming closer!"
    "Right!" Marcelle replied, hearing everything. He programmed
    waypoints into the DPL and hit the fire key. The red ball shot from the
    weapon, streaking down the corridor and turning a corner, out of sight. A
    moment later a bright flash lit up the area, followed closely by a bubble-filled
    shockwave and the sound of screaming aliens. Steffie winced briefly as the
    screams tore across her mental awareness, but quickly regained her focus:
    "They're all gone."
    "Right! Move!" Lyu ordered, and the squad surged ahead. Two more
    Aquatoid soldiers challenged them as they drew closer to their objective, but
    both were dealt with quickly by single blasts from Tank 3's cannon. "Steffie,
    anything else nearby?"
    "I can sense several Aquatoids and Tasoths in the area..." Steffie
    replied. "But they don't seem to be heading toward us."
    "Must be working the ship controls," Zen mused.
    "No time to worry about that," Lyu responded, looking down the
    corridor. In the center of a small chamber up ahead sat a 4-person lift, large
    enough to accommodate a Displacer. "That lift should take us up to the
    transporter. Tank 3, scout ahead, clear the area if necessary." The tank
    obediently floated forward, settling on the lift and rising up into the ceiling
    and out of sight. Lyu watched through her HUD as the tank rose up, found
    itself face to face with a Tasoth, and promptly shot the creature. The tank
    swept its visual sensors around, spotting no other aliens in the brightly lit
    chamber. "All right, area is clear. Groups of four in the lift, get on the
    transport pads quickly, and get ready for a reception committee down
    below!"
    The disorientation of transport came and went, and the squad found
    itself in a much different environment: this area of the vessel looked more
    like the interior of the alien colonies they had encountered in other parts of
    the world. Surprisingly, there was no reception committee, as they had
    expected, but the psis were all more acutely aware of the more intense
    background roar of MolNet emissions, particularly Steffie, who winced briefly
    at the sudden rise in their mental volume.
    "Are you all right?" Lyu asked her.
    "Yes," she answered, her gills flaring more rapidly as she forced
    more seawater through her respiratory system, calming herself. "But the
    power levels down here are more intense... it will be more difficult to see the
    enemy."
    "What now, Captain?" Escobar asked, gesturing toward a door at the
    end of a central corridor. "It's gonna take a long time to get through this
    maze."
    "And that's time we don't have," Lyudmila replied, bringing up the
    visual scan of Rann's map on her HUD and studying it quickly. "Everybody
    get down and brace." Activating her armor's ion displacer, she floated
    upwards and over to a portion of the southeastern wall. Unclipping a Pulser
    from her belt she primed it and wedged it into a nook in the rubbery wall.
    Dropping back to ground level she crouched and said "Tank 1, target my
    grenade and fire!"
    The PWT Displacer obediently floated upward, swiveled its launcher
    around and programmed a single waypoint. The torpedo shot through the
    water and collided with the Pulser, causing both to detonate spectacularly.
    The resulting explosion blew the fragile aqua-plastic wall apart and startled
    a Lobsterman which had been standing just behind the wall, on the upper
    level. Before it could overcome its surprise and shoot back, fire from three
    different troopers had perforated it.
    "All right, let's go!" Lyu called, hooking an arm around Steffie and
    lifting them both upward as the other troopers and tanks also floated upward
    and into the corridor. "Tanks 1 and 2, take the advance guard and blow a
    path straight to the southern quadrant; that's where the transporter is.
    Everybody else into echelon right formation, Tank 4 on rear guard, 3 on
    point! This is going to attract attention!"
    The two PWT Displacers floated ahead, firing their weapons at the
    walls blocking their path, shredding them like tissue paper. This did indeed
    attract attention as aliens emerged from doorways on all sides. Centeno
    was startled when a door right next to him opened and a Lobsterman came
    charging out, slashing at him crazily with its huge upper claws. Fortunately
    for him Escobar was quick on the draw with his Thermic Lance, which sliced
    through the monster's carapace quickly and efficiently. Marillo took a hit
    from a Deep One, but her armor took the force of the blow and she perforated
    the thing with a sonic blast. A Tentaculat which had been concealed by the
    Deep One now leaped to the attack, only to be speared by a well-placed stab
    from Lyudmila.
    This is too easy... Lyudmila thought as the PWT Displacers blew
    another wall apart and continued inexorably forward. Why haven't they
    thrown anything serious at us?
    Tank 1 passed through a double door and was rewarded with the
    sight of the glowing golden transport platform. Unfortunately it was guarded
    by a Xarquid, which immediately spun and fired three blasts at the offending
    Displacer, crippling its ion drive. The tank's expert system quickly
    assessed its condition: immobile, down to one torpedo, and likely to be
    killed by the next enemy shot. Having reached these conclusions, the tank
    programmed a single waypoint into its launcher and fired its last missile,
    destroying both itself and the Xarquid in the ensuing explosion.
    "Damn! Just lost Tank 1!" Escobar growled as the tank's marker on
    his HUD changed to four white crosses.
    "It was out of ammo anyway," Lyu replied. "It did its job; we've got a
    clear path. Everybody get down to the transporter!"
    The disorientation came once more, but this time it didn't quite go
    away once the transport cycle was finished. Even as the squad noticed the
    signifcant difference in their surroundings -- the golden color of the walls and
    flooring, plus the sword-holding alien statues, being the most notable -- but it
    was the psis who noticed the change the most. For a moment Steffie almost
    sank to her knees, and Lyudmila felt a bit wobbly herself.
    "Guh..." Lyudmila gasped. "It's *strong* down here... we must be
    close to the core."
    "We are..." Steffie mumbled, shuddering, her eyes beginning to glow
    faintly. "I can't sense them anymore... there's too much noise now."
    "Oh shit..." Zen said abruptly. "Lyu, check your map."
    Lyu engaged her HUD and was presented with a disturbing picture:
    except for the markers identifying her troopers and tanks, the image was
    completely black. "Oh hell. We must be too deep-- WATCH IT!!"
    Connors and Marcelle spun in time to see two Lobstermen rounding
    the corner of the entry foyer, heavy weapons poised for immediate use.
    Connors immediately lunged forward with his Thermic Lance as Marcelle
    opened up with his Sonic Cannon. Both found their targets, and trumpeting
    howls signaled the success of their attack. Connors bent over the
    Lobsterman he'd taken down, picking up the DPL it had dropped.
    Unfortunately, he did not notice the Tentaculat hiding directly above.
    "CONNORS! WATCH--" Marcelle started to shout, but it was already
    too late. The Tentaculat dropped like a stone and sent its beak stabbing
    through the neck joint of Connors' armor. He fell, twitching. Marcelle
    unslung his own Lance and charged the monster, slicing it in half. Then, not
    giving any opportunity for the venom to do its evil work, he drove the
    weapon through Connors' back, killing the former human instantly.
    "Shit! Tanks 3 and 4, forward!!" Lyudmila snapped. The two
    Displacers rose above the rest of the squad and floated out of the foyer.
    Almost immediately they were accosted by two Tentaculats, who pecked
    ineffectually at the shiny armor (and were promptly dispatched), and drew
    the fire of at least three unseen enemies. The sonic shots were far more
    effective than the Tentaculats' beaks, and Tank 4 wobbled and fell to the
    floor, little more than spare parts now. Marcelle darted around the corner,
    spying the source of the troubles, and let fly with a Disrupter before ducking
    back out of the kill zone. An explosion followed by alien screams signaled
    the success of his attack. A quick scan of the area by Tank 3 revealed it to
    be cleared of hostiles.
    "All right, let's move!" Lyu snapped. "Keep your eyes wide open!"
    The squad moved forward, quickly but cautiously. Passing through a
    large metal doorway found them in a large hallway populated by hostiles.
    Tank 2 fired off one of its remaining Disrupters and cleared most of the
    hostiles out of the immediate area, but two of the Lobstermen remained
    standing, and one squeezed the trigger on its Shok Launcher. There was a
    flash of light, and Escobar, Marillo and Nakajima collapsed.
    "Shit! Damn Shok Bombs!" Himiko grated as she struggled to stay
    on her feet and shoot at the offending Lobsterman. Her aim was horrible,
    however, and the shot sailed harmlessly over the creature's head.
    Frantically she tried to find her aim again as the thing loaded another Shok
    Bomb into its launcher and prepared to fire again. But before either of them
    could shoot, a sonic blast sailed through the air and landed squarely in the
    creature's chest, followed closely by another which knocked down the other
    Lobsterman. Himiko looked around to see Zander standing there, lowering
    his Sonic Cannon.
    "Thanks Zen," she said wearily.
    "Can you move?" he asked without preamble.
    "Yeah... just give me a minute..." she said, leaning against the
    closest wall.
    "Me too," Marcelle seconded, still standing but not sounding very
    lively. "I caught the edge of that blast."
    Lyudmila exhaled sharply through her nose. That left herself, Zen,
    Centeno and Steffie as the only reliable people. Down to four troopers, just
    like that. "All right, Tanks and anyone who didn't get hit, let's move. Himiko,
    Marcelle, stay here and see if you can get the others back on their feet."
    "What about you? You'll be outgunned!"
    "And you'll be killed if you go with us now."
    Himiko opened her mouth to say something, then sighed in
    frustration. Lyu was right, she was no longer in any condition to fight, and
    Marcelle probably wasn't much better. "All right, but for all our sakes be
    careful, Lyu!"
    "Always," Lyu answered, with a little more confidence than she felt.
    "Tank 2, Tank 3, forward, line abreast. Let's move."
    The two tanks floated forward and down the hallway as the surviving
    troopers followed. No more aliens appeared to oppose them, though no one
    harbored any illusions about the progress of the battle so far. Lyu wondered
    how the aerial battle was faring, not that it would matter if things went wrong
    here--
    She shook her head to clear it. This was no time to be having
    negative thoughts.
    Presently, the group arrived at another metal doorway, one which
    was too narrow to admit either Displacer. "I think we have a problem, Lyu,"
    Zen remarked.
    "Everybody back," Lyu answered. "Tank 2, target the doorway and
    fire."
    Once everyone had retreated a safe distance, the Displacer
    calculated the appropriate waypoints and launched a torpedo. The impact
    blew the door to shreds and caused the golden bricking along the nearby
    walls to collapse, revealing the metallic support members beneath. But it
    had no effect on the metal itself.
    "Oh shit..." Centeno said. The tanks would not be able to navigate
    the passageway.
    "I concur," Zen replied. This was not good. "Now what?"
    Lyu was silent for one moment. "Tanks 2 and 3, guard this
    perimeter. We're going on."
    "Captain, this is crazy!" Centeno gasped. "Can't we at least wait for
    the others?"
    "No, we cannot, soldier," Lyudmila glared at him. "Time is a luxury
    we do not have. Every second brings that... thing... closer to waking up."
    "And we don't have much more time," Steffie added nervously.
    Indeed, the roar of the psi waves was growing stronger with each second
    now.
    Neither Zen nor Centeno needed to be reminded of what would
    happen if that monster awakened. They couldn't afford to waste any time
    now. "I'm with you, Lyu," Zen said.
    "...Me too," Centeno seconded after a moment. It sucked, but Lyu
    was the Captain, and she did have a point.
    "Good. Diamond formation, I'm on point. Zen, you take rear guard."
    The troopers passed through the remains of the door, and found
    themselves in a long hallway. Another doorway could be seen at the far end.
    There were no bugs to be seen, but the support columns on either side made
    for good hiding places. "Stay sharp, people," Lyu said. "Watch those columns."
    This warning proved to be accurate, for as they neared the end of the
    hallway, two Aquatoids armed with Sonic Cannons jumped out from their
    hiding places behind the columns. Centeno and Lyudmila saw them and
    fired. Lyu managed to take her target down, but the other Aquatoid had time
    to snap off a shot and hit Centeno in the leg before Centeno's blast blew the
    creature in half.
    "Damn it!" Lyudmila snapped as Centeno groaned and sagged to the
    floor in obvious pain, blood flowing through the gash his armor and turning
    the surrounding water red. She reached for her medi-kit, but Steffie was
    already kneeling beside him, resting her hands on the bloody wound and
    closing her eyes. A moment later the bleeding stopped, and the pain left
    Centeno's face as he looked up at Steffie, surprise and wonder on his face.
    "Th... thank you," he said.
    "Can you walk?" Lyudmila asked without preamble.
    Slowly Centeno got to his feet, not looking all that steady. "Yeah..."
    he said, testing his leg and wincing. "Ow... but I don't think I'm gonna be
    much help anymore."
    Lyudmila sighed. "Get back to the others. Nothing more you can do
    here."
    "Yes ma'am," Centeno sighed, and turned back toward the door
    they'd come through.
    I think we're a bit outgunned, Lyu, Zander remarked in Lyu's head.
    Eh, we've been through worse, Lyu replied offhandedly in attempt
    to be flippant. It didn't quite work. Come on.
    The doorway at the end of the hall led into another long hallway,
    which in turn led into a small antechamber which had a double door on its
    opposite end. Neither had contained any bugs, and this plus the ever
    increasing roar of psi-waves, now approaching deafening, made them
    increasingly uneasy. They knew, instinctively, that they were close. Lyu
    found it increasingly difficult to fight off the anxiety which was growing
    increasingly strong in her guts. What right did she have to come here?
    Shaking it off yet again, she keyed the door open.
    And they knew they had arrived.
    The doorway opened into a vast, vaulted room, dominated by a great
    coffin-shaped pedestal which raised up and descended into the ceiling and
    floor, respectively. Surrounding the pedestal were eight metallic columns,
    each containing a glowing transparent midsection, in which could be seen a
    floating alien foetus, connected by its umbilical cord to organic control
    systems within the tubes. Rann had told them that these eight foetuses
    were the Great Dreamer's primary link to the Alien armada, power conduits
    which held the entire armada in thrall. They were multiply redundant: so
    long as even one existed, K'Tulu's hold on his army would remain firm, and
    his source of power would remain in place.
    The objective, then, was simple: destroy them all.
    The sight of the target -- and the apparent lack of any hostiles to deal
    with, much to their surprise -- filled them with renewed purpose. "All right,
    Zen, start shooting!" Lyu ordered. Not needing to be told twice, Zen turned
    his gun toward the closest tube and pulled the trigger. The sonic bolt
    shattered the midsection and the foetus inside. Lyu trained her own gun on
    a column on the opposite side and terminated its occupant, as Steffie took
    aim with her own gun. Screeches of agony split the ether for one instant as
    each foetus was aborted, but they blotted them out. It was either them or the
    aliens.
    STOP.
    There were only two conduits left when the voice boomed into their
    minds like a sonic wave. Zen and Lyu jerked as if they'd been punched in
    the face, and Steffie shuddered.
    YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO.
    Recovering her composure a bit, Lyu turned toward the coffin-shaped
    column in the room's center, where the mental emanation had come from.
    K'Tulu, I presume?
    CORRECT. In their minds they could see him, a towering yellow-
    skinned creature with black orbs for eyes, which glowed with a faint red
    color. His mouth was not visible behind the mass of tentacles which made
    up the lower half of his face, but the tentacles writhed as he spoke.
    We know *exactly* what we do, Lyudmila replied, firmed in her
    resolve by the sight of him, by the sight of the evil which burned in his eyes.
    We are preserving our race.
    YOUR RACE IS INFERIOR IN ITS CURRENT CONFIGURATION. WE
    ARE ATTEMPTING TO RESOLVE THIS.
    You intend to destroy us.
    WE INTEND TO REMAKE YOU IN OUR IMAGE. THE FUTURE OF
    YOUR SPECIES STANDS BEFORE YOU NOW. SURELY YOU REALIZE
    THIS.
    Involuntarily, Lyu and Zen both glanced at Steffie, who glanced back
    at them nervously.
    THIS CHILD IS THE FUTURE OF THE PEOPLE OF EARTH, THE
    IDEAL FUSION OF THE TWO SENTIENT SPECIES OF YOUR PLANET. THE
    WHOLE OF YOUR PLANET CAN LOOK FORWARD TO THIS POWER: THE
    ABILITY TO EXIST IN BOTH MAJOR PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS, AND THE
    OPENING OF YOUR MINDS TO THE INFINITE POSSIBILITY OF THE
    UNIVERSE... INDEED, THE _MULTIVERSE_. SURELY YOU MUST REALIZE
    THIS.
    I *realize* that we will all become mindless slaves of your empire,
    Lyudmila snapped, aiming her gun back toward the live conduit closest to
    her. No enlightenment is worth that.
    YOUR SPECIES HAS THE POTENTIAL, BUT WITHOUT GUIDANCE IT
    CANNOT REACH THE END OF THE PATH. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO GUIDE
    THEM; THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE COME HERE PROVES YOUR STRENGTH.
    YOU, ELEMENTAL, HAVE THE POWER TO LEAD YOUR PEOPLE, JUST AS
    STEFANIE HAS THE POWER TO TEACH THEM. YOU ARE BOTH SHINING
    EXAMPLES FOR YOUR RACE. YOU CAN SET AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL THE
    WORLDS IN THIS SECTOR OF THE UNIVERSE, AND BEYOND.
    For a moment, Lyu actually seemed to consider it. Then she raised
    her cannon and blasted the seventh conduit. No.
    The water suddenly seemed to grow much thicker and hotter, as
    palpable evil swirled around them and the hum of machinery in the room
    grew louder.
    I *CAN* MAKE YOU SERVE ME, WORMS.
    Lyudmila jerked as if struck, then fell to her knees.
    No!! Steffie cried out. Great Dreamer, stop this!!
    IT IS UNAVOIDABLE, CHILD, K'Tulu answered. I HAD HOPED
    THAT YOU WOULD ACCEPT YOUR STATUS FREELY, GIVEN YOUR LOVE
    FOR THE OCEANS. BUT IF YOU MUST BE MADE TO SERVE, SO BE IT.
    I will not serve you! Steffie replied angrily.
    THEN YOU WILL DIE.
    Steffie froze, dropping her weapon. She felt as if her mind and body
    were being gripped in an iron vise. Like puppets being pulled on tangled
    strings, Zander and Lyudmila got jerkily to their feet, fighting the Great
    Dreamer's control every step of the way, their eyes glowing bright red.
    K'Tulu... stop... this!! Lyudmila shrieked as she watched herself raise her
    gun toward Steffie.
    ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, YOU AND YOUR EARTH SHALL BE MINE,
    ELEMENTAL. RECONSIDER. NOW.
    No... please... Steffie heard her friends on the verge of begging as
    they took aim at her head. From one of Lyudmila's glowing eyes, Steffie saw
    a tear roll.
    No. No!! Steffie growled, galvanized by the sight. Her own eyes
    began to glow brilliantly as she focused the sum of her willpower, the fury of
    her anger, and the strength of her loyalty to her planet and her people, and
    she channeled it all into one powerful blast. ***D I E***!!
    Across the room, the foetus within the last remaining conduit
    exploded, and the tube exploded along with it. Sudden shock and terror
    rippled across the ether, replaced in the next second by a howl of impotent
    rage as the mental vise gripping them was abruptly cast off.
    NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
    In the air, the surviving craft were surprised when several vessels in
    the alien fleet began to waver, list, and then drop from the sky like so many
    stones. Across the world, armies reported a similar phenomenon as ships
    in the air crashed to the ground or back into the sea, or exploded outright, as
    alien troopers on the ground began milling aimlessly about, quickly
    becoming targets of human bullets.
    The hum of machinery in the ship began to drop off, and the lights
    dimmed. For one instant there was an ominous stillness throughout the
    vessel.
    And then a mental howl reverberated through every single mind,
    psionic or not, in the area. FOOLS YOU WILL ALL PERISH! NONE SHALL
    ESCAPE!!
    The decks of the ship began to rumble, and the tortured sound of
    twisting metal began to echo through the corridors.
    Oh SHIT! pretty much summed up everyone's thoughts on this
    development.
    The groaning sound was even worse outside, where it could travel
    unmolested through the air. As the pilots of the various aircraft watched, the
    huge bulk of T'Leth began to list to one side, and small explosions began to
    rock its surface.
    "My god!" one of the aviators gasped. "I think they did it!!"
    "SPEARHEAD TO ANY X-COM FORCES! ZERO-ONE, *ANYBODY*,
    WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!?"
    The shout nearly blew out the headsets of anyone who'd heard it, but
    it was still the voice of their Captain, and the X-Com personnel were quick to
    respond. "Yuri Andianov, Avenger Three reporting in, Captain! Awaiting
    orders!"
    "Get down here, Three!!" Lyudmila shouted. "We need pickup!
    Home on my signal!!"
    "On my way, ma'am!" Andianov answered, and took the Avenger into
    a steep dive toward the listing bulk of the vessel, tracking the signal sent by
    Lyudmila's transceiver. He found the group of troopers, some standing,
    some injured, on an emergency transport pad on the surface of the vessel.
    Setting the Avenger down as best he could on the violently shaking surface
    of T'Leth, Andianov keyed the rear hatch open. The Captain and her
    ambulatory troops fairly lunged into the corvette, bodily hauling the infirm in
    after them.
    "THAT'S IT! GO! GO!! GO!!!" Lyudmila hollered as the Avenger began
    leaning dangerously to one side. Needing no further encouragement,
    Andianov hit the CLOSE button on the rear hatch and threw the thrusters wide
    open, and the corvette leaped into the air. Lyudmila clambered into the
    copilot's seat and grabbed the radio. "Attention all forces! Get clear of the
    big ship! Repeat: *GET CLEAR OF THE BIG SHIP*!!"
    The myriad aircraft did not need to be told twice, turning tail en
    masse and bolting away from the dying ship at full afterburn. Behind them,
    the tortured black hull of T'Leth continued to writhe in its death throes. More
    explosions began to rip through the hull with increased frequency and
    ferocity, as the more fragile parts of the vessel began to break off and fall
    into the water. The Black City continued to shudder and list, until the
    explosions reached the central fusion powerplant. Beams of radiant energy
    shot from every rend and hole in the vessel as the reactor went supercritical,
    and then...
    * * * W H A B O O M * * *
    When the light had died down, and the violent shockwave had
    passed over them and gone away, Lyu sagged back into the seat, relaxing
    visibly. The pervasive darkness, the background unease which had been
    there since the war had started, was finally gone. Reaching out to the radio,
    she sent a subdued message to anyone who could hear:
    "Mission accomplished."
    With the destruction of the controlling mind, the surviving Starspawn
    were thrown into chaos. Those that did not die outright quickly became
    mindless drones, and were easy targets for mopping up. More than one was
    the victim of bloody revenge by civilian mobs, and the military did little to
    intervene, even aiding them sometimes. Some of the lesser creatures, such
    as the Xarquids and Hallucinoids, simply reverted to their normal wild state
    and became relatively docile animals once again.
    Expeditions to the remnants of the Starspawn colonies (of which
    there were many) were quickly organized, to make sure any remaining
    Starspawn creatures, particularly the Tentaculats, were eradicated. In
    addition the colonies would be occupied by the Gillmen, who had already set
    about rebuilding their shattered civilization. Both Humans and Gillmen
    would work together to maintain the Molecular Control Net, which had not
    been destroyed and which had proven itself an extremely valuable
    technology, for it allowed people the world over a greater understanding of
    themselves and each other, enabling many conflicts to be avoided more
    easily. Peace began to spread across the globe, both above and under the
    oceans, and it was hoped that Humans and Gillmen could be brought
    together and learn to share the planet which was theirs.
    FIVE DAYS LATER
    U.S. NAVY PATROL BOAT PT-307
    SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN
    "Will you be all right, down there?"
    Steffie smiled softly. "I'll be fine, Grandpa. It's been 65 million
    years since most of these people had anything resembling free will. They'll
    need help to get back on their feet. I can help them."
    "What she says is true," Rann nodded, standing a discreet distance
    away with several members of his race. "This will be a challenging time for
    both our races, and we will need all the help we can get. Her knowledge and
    powers make her much-needed in our society, just as people like the
    Elemental are much needed in yours."
    "Besides, the ocean is my real home now," Steffie shrugged, though
    anyone could see that she personally viewed this as a dream come true.
    "But you will visit once in a while, won't you?" Laura asked.
    "Of course, Grandma," Steffie giggled. "Don't be silly!"
    "I wish you well, friends," Lyudmila said to the Gillmen. "And I hope
    the future works out for all of us."
    "As do I, my friend," Rann nodded, reaching out and touching
    Lyudmila's shoulder in the Gillman equivalent of a handshake. Lyu returned
    the gesture. "And now, I believe it is time for us to go."
    Steffie nodded, and went about the business of saying final
    goodbyes, giving many hugs to her grandparents and touching shoulders
    with her newfound friends in X-Com, finally reaching Lyudmila. "Thank you,
    Elemental, for everything. I hope that all goes well for you, and that we will
    meet again someday."
    "Likewise," Lyudmila answered, and instead of touching shoulders,
    she hugged the young Dreamer gently. "Take care."
    Steffie nodded once again and pulled away, joining Rann and the
    other Gillmen. One by one, they dove over the side of the boat and into the
    water, until only Steffie was left. Turning back, she took one last look at the
    people waving to her. She smiled and waved back at them one last time,
    and then leapt over the side, expelling the air from her lungs as she fell.
    The cold seawater rushed up to meet her, and she inhaled deeply,
    flooding her lungs and forcing the oxygen-rich water out through her gills,
    feeling a rush of energy as she did so. She moved easily through the
    waters, no longer hindered by the breathing equipment she had always
    needed before. All around her she could see life in all its myriad glory. All
    around her she could see the forms of Gillmen moving gracefully through the
    water. They were smiling at her. She smiled back.
    Yes, she thought. This was the way it should be.
    END NINE
    

* * *

END


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue 

Larry Mann

Back to X-Com Page 

"X-COM: UFO Defense" and "X-COM: Terror From The Deep"

Copyright (c) 1994 MicroProse and Mythos Software

"X-Com Saga" Copyright (c) 1994 Russ Brown

"X-Com Saga II: Tales From The Deep" Copyright (c) 1996-97 Larry Mann

* * *
    
    
    EPILOGUE
    A.D. 2099
    UNITED NATIONS BUILDING, NEW YORK MEGACITY
    "And that was the last time I saw her," Stefanie
    finished. "I visited her friends many times, but I never saw
    her myself after that time."
    "What happened to her?" one of the Human children
    gathered around her asked.
    "Did she die?" a Gillman girl asked.
    "No," Stefanie smiled. "She just went back to sleep,
    as did several of her friends. They knew, someday, that the
    Starspawn might come back again. And if they did, not only
    would X-Com be needed once again, but X-Com would need capable
    warriors to staff its ranks. The Elemental feels a strong
    duty to the people of her world. Human, Gillman, and Dreamer
    alike. This is why she went to sleep, so that she could
    awaken again, when she was needed."
    The children were all duly impressed. "Do you think
    the Starspawn might come back again?" one worried Human girl
    asked.
    "I don't know, my child," Stefanie replied. "Perhaps,
    perhaps not. But if they do, the Elemental will be there to
    protect us. You can count on that."
    A knocking was heard at the doorframe, and Stefanie
    looked up to see a young Human male standing in the doorway.
    "Your Excellency? The Council will be convening shortly."
    "Thank you," Stefanie nodded, and turned back to the
    children. "Now if you'll excuse me, little ones, there are
    some things I must do before the day is out. Run along and
    play now." The children dutifully darted away to engage in
    children's mischief, and Stefanie gathered her robes about her
    and got to her feet, adjusting the thick collar about her neck
    which kept her gills supplied with oxygen-rich water while she
    was above the oceans fulfilling her duties as the leader and
    ambassador for the Dreamer race.
    "You're a good storyteller," said a voice from the
    doorway. Stefanie looked up to see the elderly visage of
    Himiko Nagano.
    "Thank you," Stefanie chuckled. "I've had a lot of
    opportunities to develop that skill. Amazing how many
    children had never had a story told to them in the early
    days."
    "What do you really think?" Nagano asked as she joined
    Stefanie in her journey toward the Assembly chamber. Steffie
    slowed her pace a bit so that the elderly woman could keep up
    more easily. She herself had aged very little in the past
    sixty years, something she supposed was due to her alien
    physiology.
    "About?"
    "About the Starspawn," Nagano answered quietly. "Do
    you think they're coming back again?"
    Steffie was silent for a moment. "I'm not certain,"
    she said at length. "They might, they might not." She
    turned to her companion. "Do you regret your decision to not
    go into stasis with the others?"
    "No, no," Himiko shook her head slowly. "It was time
    for me to live my life, and that's what I did. I don't regret
    my decision at all." She paused. "I'm just... concerned
    about the future, about what our children might have to deal
    with... if they do come back again."
    Stefanie nodded solemnly. "Our children have enough to
    worry about as it is, what with our planetary environment in
    such disrepair now. But I can promise you one thing, my
    friend." She laid a hand on the elderly woman's shoulder,
    and the faintest of golden glows flickered across her black
    eyes. "If the Starspawn do threaten us again... this time we
    will be ready for them."
    Himiko found much comfort in Steffie's words, and smiled
    faintly. The two women walked the remaining distance to the
    General Assembly in silence, where once again the future of
    the planetary environment would become a heated topic of
    discussion.
    Hopefully, the future the children could look forward to
    would turn out to be a good one.
    FIN
    

* * *

END


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